South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection advised the city of Cheongju to impose strict disciplinary action against a civil servant who stole over $416,000 worth of public funds and invested in crypto assets. The unnamed officer has already been charged and condemned of criminal charges based on this same crime. The prosecutors claimed that the unnamed grade-6 officer started stealing in 2017 and continued for seven years.
South Korean Grade-6 Officer Could Face Additional Disciplinary Action
The South Korean civil servant officer at Cheongju City Hall who stole more than $416,000 from public funds could face additional disciplinary action. South Korea’s Board of Audit and Inspection claimed that he had embezzled approximately 600 million won (equivalent to $416,244) over a seven-year period and invested it in crypto assets. The board is all set to impose additional charges and punishments on the officer, who has already been charged with the same offense.
The board found out that he also forged documents to seem like they had been categorized as subsidies for student work experience, but the officer reportedly embezzled the money and spent it to purchase crypto assets from major crypto exchanges. The official was sentenced to 5 years in prison and arrested on charges of stealing money from the city budget and public organization funds, he had been stealing the money since 2017 and managed to continue it for seven years.
Disciplinary actions against public officials have been categorized into heavy and light actions. Heavy actions could include dismissal, discharge, suspension, and demotion, whereas light actions consist of reprimand and salary cuts. The light disciplinary actions could be imposed on five official superiors (including middle managers and section chiefs) who were responsible for management and supervision. The highest level of disciplinary action consists of revoking the public official status and employment as a public official is barred for five years.
2017 January; Where It Has All Begun!
An unnamed grade-6 officer at Cheongju City Hall was allegedly accused of stealing public funds to buy crypto assets. The news appeared in mainstream media in 2024 August. Major news-gathering networks in South Korea reported this news and was one of the biggest embezzlements in the history of South Korea.
A grade-6 officer who was in charge of student work activities and Northern Korean defector settlement support projects at Cheongju City Hall was allegedly accused of stealing more than $416,000 by forging multiple official documents over a period of seven years. The reports claim that he has been involved in this scam since January 2017. He used the embezzled money to invest in digital currencies and stocks and allegedly used it to pay off his personal debt.
At the time of the investigation, the Cheongju District Prosecutors stated that they would maintain the indictment without any loopholes so that the defendant was sentenced to a punishment appropriate to his crime. The prosecution measured and seized his properties like vehicles and apartments as part of the investigation.
Embezzlement Cases are Increasing in South Korea and “Many domestic firms have weak embezzlement prevention systems.” Opines Former National Police Agency’s Audit Director
Experts from South Korea have stated that crypto fever has incited a sharp rise in embezzlement cases in South Korea. According to the latest data, a scary number of 3,966 cases have been reported at the time of writing but the experts believe the actual figures might be much higher than this. South Korean experts claim that the enhanced public interest in crypto is one of the major factors that is responsible for the rising number of embezzlement crimes.
Park Ki-tae, who is currently the CEO of an embezzlement detection software firm and the former director of the National Police Agency’s Audit Office stated that, economic uncertainty had persisted after the coronavirus pandemic and that more employees had been tempted to make speculative investments in stocks, gambling, and cryptocurrencies. They also mentioned that many domestic firms had weak embezzlement prevention systems, adding that embezzlement methods were becoming more diverse and sophisticated as the number of non-face-to-face digital financial transactions increased.
