"Reviewing Non-Prosecution Cases of Fraud and Embezzlement"... Police Station Investigation Examiner Conducts Direct Investigation

Granting Direct Investigation Authority to Field Investigation Review Officers... Strengthening Accountability in Investigations

The National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters (NIH) has decided to grant direct investigative authority to investigative examiners at frontline police stations to strengthen accountability in investigations. The aim is to enhance investigative responsibility and thereby gain public trust.

NIH to Allow Investigative Examiners to Directly Investigate ‘Fraud, Embezzlement, and Breach of Trust Economic Cases’

According to a comprehensive report by Asia Economy on the 14th, Woo Jong-su, head of the NIH, announced at an investigative leadership meeting on the 8th that frontline police station investigative examiners will be allowed to directly investigate economic cases. The plan is to limit this to major economic cases such as fraud, embezzlement, and breach of trust. The NIH is currently gathering field opinions and plans to implement this as early as the second half of the year.

A National Police Agency official stated, "If there is a prosecutor's request for reinvestigation of a case that was dismissed based on the investigative examiner's opinion, the investigative examiner will serve as the lead investigator, and the investigator who originally handled the case will act as the assistant investigator." This means that the investigative examiner, who previously contributed to the legal review for dismissal, will take charge of the case again and bear the responsibility for its conclusion.

Currently, investigative examiners are responsible for tasks such as ▲self-closure (pre-indictment investigation, unsolved cases) ▲mandatory review of cases recommended for non-prosecution by the police ▲review of warrant applications ▲mentoring new investigators ▲legal review of major cases.

5,000 Prosecutor Reinvestigation Requests from January to May This Year... Improving Investigation Quality

This change in the investigative system is interpreted as an effort to improve the quality of investigations. According to the National Police Agency, the number of prosecutor requests for reinvestigation of police non-prosecution cases exceeded 10,000 for two consecutive years, with 13,659 cases in 2021 and 14,560 cases in 2022. From January to May this year, the number of prosecutor reinvestigation requests was 5,651, a 15% decrease compared to the same period last year (6,605 cases). Among last year's reinvestigation requests, fraud, embezzlement, and breach of trust cases totaled approximately 3,400, accounting for 23.4% of the total.

In April, the prosecution requested reinvestigation regarding the police's decision not to prosecute former Daeju Group Chairman Heo Jae-ho, who was accused of embezzlement. The police dismissed the case citing the statute of limitations expiration, but the prosecution argued that since he resided overseas to avoid criminal punishment, the statute of limitations should be considered suspended during that period. Currently, the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crime Investigation Unit of the Gwangju Police Agency is reviewing the case again.

At the investigative frontline, there is debate over the policy allowing investigative examiners to conduct direct investigations. An investigator at a police station in Seoul expressed concern, saying, "If investigative examiners can reinvestigate, investigators might rely on the reinvestigation system and conduct rough investigations initially in cases that are difficult to judge." On the other hand, a chief inspector belonging to a metropolitan investigation unit expressed a positive view, stating, "Since the investigative workload is increasing, even if they handle only non-prosecution cases, it would significantly reduce the workload," and added, "The existing role of investigative examiners was basically limited to providing additional opinions."

Experts believe that reexamining non-prosecution cases could improve the quality of investigations. Seung Jae-hyun, senior research fellow at the Korea Institute of Criminal Justice Policy, said, "If investigative examiners participate in actual investigations, a more proactive investigative environment is likely to be created," and added, "The public would also find it more trustworthy if investigative examiners with legal review experience conduct additional investigations."

Meanwhile, the NIH, which oversees police investigations, is overhauling its investigative organization and command system. It plans to finalize and implement the investigation renewal plan as early as this month.

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