Police Officer Who Inflated Overtime Pay... Court Rules "Demotion Justified"

A court ruling has upheld the demotion disciplinary action against a police officer in charge of audits who wrongfully received overtime pay.

The Gwangju District Court's 1st Administrative Division (Presiding Judge Park Sang-hyun) announced on the 7th that it dismissed the lawsuit filed by Officer A against the Jeonnam Police Agency Chief seeking to cancel the demotion order.

Officer A was prosecuted on charges of fraud for inflating overtime hours 28 times from February 20, 2019, to May 20, 2021, while working at the Naju Police Station, wrongfully receiving 11.73 million won in overtime pay, and was sentenced to a fine of 10 million won.

While working in the audit department at the time, Officer A also overlooked crimes committed by an administrative officer and fellow police officers who falsified work records in the integrated portal overtime system (e-Saram).

Due to these misconducts, Officer A was referred to the disciplinary committee and demoted.

Officer A filed a lawsuit claiming, "Applying embezzlement of public funds instead of fraud and demoting me simply because I was serving as an auditor is an abuse of discretion."

The court explained, "Officer A wrongfully received overtime pay for 1,015 hours, indicating a serious level of misconduct and high blameworthiness. Officer A's violation of duty constitutes an act that disrupts budget and accounting order, not embezzlement of public funds under the Police Officer Disciplinary Regulations. Even in such cases, disciplinary actions ranging from demotion to suspension can be imposed."

The court further stated, "Article 40 of the Audit Regulations stipulates that violations of duty by auditors warrant aggravated disciplinary measures beyond the standards set for disciplinary severity. In other words, the disciplinary measures against Officer A comply with the disciplinary standards specified in the detailed enforcement rules. The public interest in establishing public service discipline is by no means less significant than the disadvantages Officer A may suffer."

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