2023-10-09 00:00:38
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541 people who stole state subsidies worth 15 billion won by creating ‘ghost workers’ or providing services that did not exist in the first place were caught by the police. Both the number of arrests and the amount of money have doubled compared to last year. The National Investigation Headquarters of the National Police Agency announced on the 9th that as a result of a special crackdown on illegal receipt of government subsidies for three months from June to September, a total of 541 people (224 cases) were arrested and the illegal receipt amounted to 14.88 billion won. The number of people arrested increased 2.1 times compared to the same period last year (258 people). The amount of illegal benefits also increased 1.8 times from 8.36 billion won last year. The amount of confiscation and collection compensation implemented for the first time this time was also 1.37 billion won. By number of arrests, social and welfare areas, such as subsidies for the disabled, accounted for the largest number of people at 327 (60%). 71 people (13%) were arrested in the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors, and 33 people (6%) were arrested in the education and health sectors. By crime type, the most common type at 87% (471 people) was falsely applying for subsidies and intercepting them or embezzling them once more. Mr. A, the representative of a company in Incheon, was caught and arrested on charges of misappropriating 500 million won in government subsidies, including labor costs, following falsely registering workers from June 2020 to April of the following year. The ‘use for other purposes’ type, which involves applying for and receiving subsidies normally and then using them for other purposes, accounted for 13% (70 people). In Jinhae, Gyeongsangnam-do, eight people, including the chairman, were arrested for using 60 million won in private teacher support subsidies received from the Gyeongnam Office of Education over a 10-year period from 2013 to last year for an inappropriate purpose. When the police forwarded the case, they notified the subsidy-paying agency to recover the subsidy. The police arrested 85 people, including a tax accountant, who defrauded 1.2 billion won worth of subsidies by registering false workers, and recovered 100 million won in illegal benefits. The police plan to carry out crackdowns until the end of the year and pay a reporting reward of up to 100 million won to encourage reporting of subsidies. Reporter Kwak Jin-san kjs@hani.co.kr
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