The Full Story of AmorePacific Employee Embezzling 3.5 Billion Won... Diverting Gift Certificates and Issuing False Tax Invoices

Indictment Obtained by Assemblyman Kidongmin's Office
Converting Partner Company Gift Certificates to Cash or
Issuing False Tax Invoices
Using Them for Stocks and Illegal Sports Gambling

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Gyumin] Detailed circumstances of the embezzlement case involving Amorepacific employees who allegedly embezzled approximately 3.5 billion KRW of company funds have come to light. They diverted company money by cashing in cashback from business partners or reselling ‘1+1’ promotional products at full price, using the proceeds for stock investments and illegal sports gambling.

According to the indictment obtained on the 23rd by Rep. Ki Dongmin of the Democratic Party through the Ministry of Justice from the Seoul Western District Prosecutors’ Office, Amorepacific sales team employee A placed orders for daily necessities such as shampoo and body wash from business partners 292 times between August 2018 and November last year. He planned ‘1+1’ promotional events and sold these products at full price, embezzling 3,345,060,000 KRW.

Additionally, A, together with distribution team employee B, organized a ‘Chuseok promotional event’ in August 2019, where they made bulk purchases of Amorepacific products through distributors and received Amorepacific gift certificates worth 10% to 15% of the purchase amount. Over one year, they received gift certificates worth 76,575,205 KRW from the companies, which they secretly cashed instead of using to buy products, transferring the money to B’s account for stock investments and other uses.

They also embezzled 63,300,000 KRW by issuing false tax invoices. Around November 2020, when distributors participating in the promotional event requested tax invoices, A and B sent false tax invoices through a company introduced by an acquaintance. They paid the introduced company only 15% of the product price, including VAT, and embezzled the remainder by receiving it back.

A and B also used the embezzled company funds for private online gambling. A received 6,782,000,000 KRW in cyber money 76 times and bet on domestic and international sports results. B used 9,150,000 KRW for gambling in 18 instances.

The Seoul Western District Prosecutors’ Office indicted A on the 3rd for embezzlement under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes and violations of the National Sports Promotion Act, while B was charged with embezzlement in the course of business and violations of the National Sports Promotion Act.

Meanwhile, Amorepacific investigated the matter through an internal regular audit, held a personnel committee meeting, and disciplined or dismissed the employees involved. The company recovered the embezzled amount, reported recurrence prevention measures to the audit committee under the board of directors, and notified the company internally.

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