Gyeongnam Provincial Special Judicial Police Crack Down on 10 Fake Petroleum Manufacturing and Sales Sites

Businesses that manufactured or sold fake petroleum were caught by the Gyeongnam Province Special Judicial Police.

The Special Judicial Police announced on the 6th that since March, they have uncovered 10 businesses involved in illegal petroleum manufacturing and distribution through a planned crackdown.

According to the Special Judicial Police, a total of 13 violations were revealed across 10 businesses during this operation.

▲ One case of manufacturing and using fake petroleum products ▲ Two cases of undocumented petroleum distribution and sales ▲ One case of selling kerosene intended for fake petroleum manufacturing ▲ Two cases of selling kerosene as fuel for automobiles or dump trucks ▲ One case of unreported petroleum product sales ▲ Three cases of illegal petroleum sales through mobile sales methods ▲ One case of under-quantity petroleum product sales ▲ Two cases of failure to report or false reporting of petroleum supply and transaction status.

Gyeongnam Provincial Special Judicial Police are conducting a planned crackdown on illegal petroleum manufacturing and distribution.
[Photo by Gyeongnam Provincial Government]

Among them, construction machinery rental operator Mr. A is suspected of producing fake petroleum by mixing about 4% lubricating oil into heating kerosene supplied by fuel retailer Mr. B and using it as fuel for his dump trucks and other construction machinery.

Mr. B sold 51,000 liters of kerosene worth approximately 76 million KRW to Mr. A, despite knowing that Mr. A was manufacturing fake petroleum.

Fuel retailer Mr. C is accused of purchasing a total of 1,036,000 liters of vehicle diesel from unidentified persons through undocumented cash transactions between January and February this year, and selling it at two gas stations for a total of approximately 1.595 billion KRW to evade taxes.

Mr. D, who sold 1,780,000 liters of vehicle diesel worth about 2.74 billion KRW obtained through undocumented cash transactions from September last year to February this year, is also under police investigation for the same charges.

Mr. D’s registered address is in Seoul, and he is currently unreachable. The Special Judicial Police regard him as a so-called “front man” who lends his name and are investigating to uncover the truth.

Another fuel retailer, Mr. E, was caught selling heating kerosene, which cannot be used as vehicle fuel, to cargo trucks late at night.

The gas stations involved in illegal petroleum distribution have been subjected to business suspension by the relevant city and county authorities, and illegal petroleum distributors, as well as those who sell and use substandard petroleum, will face imprisonment or fines according to related laws.

The Special Judicial Police believe that such fraudulent activities are rampant in the petroleum sales industry and plan to strengthen monitoring of petroleum sales businesses, reorganize cooperation and surveillance systems among related agencies, and actively respond to violations.

Kim Eun-nam, Director of the Social Disaster Division of the province, stated, “Strong punishment must follow those who disrupt the sound order of petroleum distribution,” adding, “We will do our best to eradicate social risks caused by illegal petroleum distribution.”

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