'Did You Know About the Violation of the Political Funds Act?' Assemblywoman Yang Hyang-ja Booked

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] Yang Hyang-ja, a member of the National Assembly (54), who is accused of registering ghost employees and embezzling labor costs, is under police investigation.

Gwangju Police Agency announced on the 21st that they are investigating Assemblywoman Yang for violating the Political Funds Act.

Yang and her former special aide A (52) are accused of conspiring to falsely register three ghost employees last year and embezzling tens of millions of won from the political fund account under the pretext of salaries.

Initially, it was reported that the fraudulent act was solely committed by A, who was in charge of accounting, but circumstances have emerged indicating that Assemblywoman Yang was aware of the crime, leading to her being implicated as an accomplice.

The police first became aware of this case when a former secretary, who was a victim of sexual harassment by A, filed a complaint.

Separately, A is also suspected of receiving monthly activity fees ranging from 3 million to 5.5 million won from a comprehensive insurance sales company since last year. The method involved disguising the payments as salaries to female employees of an affiliated company.

Under the Political Funds Act, corporations or organizations are prohibited from sponsoring political funds to members of the National Assembly, and individuals are not allowed to sponsor more than 5 million won annually.

There are further violations. Yang and A are also on trial for illegal donations (violation of the Public Official Election Act) for distributing boxes of Cheonhyehyang fruit (worth about 1.9 million won) to 43 constituents between January 28 and February 9. During the trial, A remarked, "As the leader of the organization, it is my duty to support my employees," which has led to speculation that tensions may have arisen between the two amid various investigations.

Meanwhile, Assemblywoman Yang left the Democratic Party in July following the sexual harassment allegations against A and has been acting as an independent, but she has currently applied for reinstatement to the Democratic Party's central committee.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.