▲ Lee Myung-soon, Vice Chairperson of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission
State funds improperly leaked from 311 institutions, including central administrative agencies, local governments, and provincial offices of education, reached approximately 130 billion won last year.
The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) announced this on August 7 while releasing the results of its inspection into the implementation of the Public Funds Recovery Act.
According to the ACRC inspection, a total of 141,781 cases of fraudulent receipt were uncovered last year, and 129.6 billion won was decided for recovery.
Additionally, penalty surcharges amounting to 50 billion won were imposed on the institutions and individuals involved in the fraudulent receipts.
The ACRC explained that compared to the previous year, the decided recovery amount (104.2 billion won) increased by 24 percent, and penalty surcharges (28.8 billion won) surged by 74 percent, marking the largest scale ever recorded.
Major cases included receiving agricultural subsidies by falsely claiming to farm without actually cultivating land, or receiving single-parent family support funds while concealing marriage or de facto marital relationships.
Other cases involved fueling vehicles not eligible for support or receiving oil subsidies while in a closed business status, as well as receiving national work-study scholarships without actually providing labor or collecting employment stability subsidies by falsely filling out commute logs and training status records.
By category, livelihood benefits accounted for the largest scale with 290 billion won decided for recovery, followed by industry, small and medium-sized enterprise, and energy sector support funds at 22.9 billion won, and housing benefits at 10.3 billion won.
The Public Funds Recovery Act, implemented since 2020, recovers profits generated when public financial payments such as subsidies are falsely claimed or received, and imposes penalty surcharges of up to five times that amount.
Lee Myung-soon, Vice Chairperson of the ACRC, stated, "The fraudulent receipt of public funds is an act that seriously undermines social fairness," adding, "We will strive to strictly manage public finances to ensure transparency."
(Photo courtesy of Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, Yonhap News)
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