Gyeongnam Police Agency Arrests 86 for Embezzling National Subsidies... Fraudulent Claims Exceed 3 Billion Won

The Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency announced on the 11th that it has apprehended 84 individuals who fraudulently received national subsidies this year, uncovering a total fraudulent amount of 3.07 billion KRW.

The provincial police explained that to prevent leakage of national and local finances and to realize economic justice, they established dedicated investigation teams at all police stations in the province and conducted a special crackdown on fraudulent receipt of national subsidies from June to September, detecting a total of 28 cases.

Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency.
Photo by Lee Seryeong

According to the provincial police agency, compared to the same period last year, the number of arrests increased by 40%, the number of individuals apprehended rose by 236%, and the amount detected surged by 544%.

By crime type, the majority (61.9%) involved cases where subsidies were falsely applied for and embezzled or misappropriated, while 38.1% involved cases where subsidies were properly applied for and received but used for other purposes.

Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency's crackdown results on fraudulent receipt of national subsidies. [Provided by Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency]

Among those arrested were 12 people, including a county office project manager, who from 2016 to 2019 submitted false documents claiming to have newly developed products that were already developed, embezzling 330 million KRW in national subsidies.

There were also 7 individuals who fraudulently applied as if they had carried out tasks related to the Smart Factory Distribution Expansion Support Project, illegally receiving over 1.2 billion KRW in subsidies.

Eight people, including a chairman, were arrested for receiving 60 million KRW in private school staff support subsidies from the education office in 2022 and using the funds for other purposes.

Five individuals were also arrested for submitting false work plans despite not working, thereby receiving employment incentive subsidies totaling over 130 million KRW.

Status of Detection of Fraudulent Receipt of National Subsidies by Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency. [Data provided by Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency]

The provincial police agency plans to continue strong crackdowns through intelligence gathering by each station and enhanced cooperation among related ministries until the end of this year.

They plan to activate reporting and tip-offs by providing whistleblowers related to subsidy fraud with rewards of up to 100 million KRW.

Reports or tips can be made by calling 112, visiting a police station, or through the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission’s Integrity Portal.

Chief Kim Byung-su stated, “Subsidy fraud is a crime of deception against the public’s tax money, and protecting public funds is essential,” adding, “We will not be satisfied with this interim result and will continue to strictly punish corruption related to national subsidies.”

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