Active Public Official Arrested and Indicted for Receiving Tens of Millions of Won to Suppress Tax Investigation

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Gyumin] The prosecution has arrested and indicted two current public officials who received bribes from sham companies in exchange for quashing tax investigations. A sham company refers to an entity that registers as a business, issues false tax invoices, and collects a certain commission as compensation.

The Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office Fair Trade and Economic Crime Division (Chief Prosecutor Joo Hyejin) on the 18th arrested and indicted current tax officials Mr. A and Mr. B on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (bribery) and the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, respectively. Mr. C, the operator of the sham company who handed over the bribes, was indicted without detention on charges of bribery, and Mr. D was indicted without detention on charges of bribery and violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act.

Mr. A is accused of receiving 71.5 million KRW from Mr. D and others from March 2018 to around April 2020. Mr. B is also accused of receiving bribes worth approximately 78 million KRW from Mr. D during a similar period. Mr. C and Mr. D are charged with offering bribes to them. In particular, Mr. D, as the office manager of a tax accountant, was indicted for providing a fixed monthly amount to Mr. B for about five years in exchange for receiving client referrals to the tax office where he worked.

Their crimes were uncovered after the operator Mr. E was indicted without detention on June 22 for issuing and receiving false tax invoices worth approximately 26 billion KRW and evading taxes amounting to about 660 million KRW.

During the investigation, the prosecution discovered that Mr. C was involved in facilitating the issuance of false tax invoices worth 2.3 billion KRW to Mr. E, which led to uncovering that Mr. C and Mr. D issued false tax invoices totaling 11.7 billion KRW.

Subsequently, in September, the prosecution became aware of Mr. A and Mr. B receiving bribes from sham company operators and conducted search and seizure operations at three related tax offices and their residences.

The prosecution stated, "The operators of 'sham' companies repeatedly established and closed companies within a short period, issuing false tax invoices worth approximately 14 billion KRW, yet received various information from tax officials with whom they had personal connections and avoided tax investigations. We have actively supplemented the police referral case and will focus our efforts on eradicating crimes that have a significant impact on national finances, such as tax evasion."

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