'Citizen Deokhee' Who Caught Voice Phishing Criminal Receives 50 Million Won Reward After 8 Years

Kwonikwi Decides on Reward Payments for First Half of Year
Citizen Deokhee Recognized for Contribution to Public Interest Promotion
Five Whistleblowers Receive Total of 81 Million Won

Kim, the real-life protagonist of the movie 'Citizen Deokhee' which deals with voice phishing crimes, will receive a reward of 50 million KRW eight years after the arrest of the mastermind.

On the 27th, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) announced that it will pay a total of 81 million KRW in rewards to five whistleblowers, including Kim, who contributed to public interest through corruption and public interest reports in the first half of this year.

[Image source=Asia Economy DB]

The ACRC annually receives nominations from public institutions and awards rewards for corruption and public interest reports. In the first half of this year, 728 public institutions recommended candidates, and the reward amounts were determined after reviewing the contribution to case resolution and public interest value.

The reward recipients include Kim, who made a decisive contribution to the arrest of the voice phishing mastermind. In January 2016, Kim was deceived by a voice phishing organization member impersonating a bank employee and transferred 27.3 million KRW over 11 transactions. Afterwards, Kim obtained evidence and information about the organization members and reported it to investigative authorities.

Thanks to Kim’s report, 234 potential victims targeted by the voice phishing organization were prevented from harm.

However, at that time, the police proposed a reward of 1 million KRW citing budget shortages, which Kim refused to accept. Subsequently, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office recommended Kim to the ACRC as a reward recipient for this first half of the year.

In addition, the ACRC decided to pay 10 million KRW and 9.5 million KRW respectively to whistleblowers who reported admission fraud and contributed to the arrest of drug smuggling and sales masterminds.

A whistleblower who reported the theft and sale of construction materials from a construction site commissioned by a public institution will receive a reward of 8 million KRW. Another whistleblower who exposed speculative acts using insider information acquired while serving as a mayor of a basic local government will receive 3.5 million KRW.

Jung Seung-yoon, Vice Chairman of the ACRC’s Anti-Corruption Division, stated, "We applaud the whistleblower who made a decisive contribution to the arrest of voice phishing criminals who steal the valuable property of the people," and added, "We will continue to do our best to actively protect and support whistleblowers who contribute to the public interest."

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