▲ National Election Commission
The joint prosecution-police investigation team probing corruption suspicions surrounding the National Election Commission has launched coercive investigation into allegations of a so-called "Sunpia (NEC-mafia) cartel" that allegedly funneled preferential contracts to specific companies.
The Joint Investigation Team for Fact-Finding on the Infringement of Citizens' Suffrage Rights, led by Kim Tae-hoon, the 3rd Deputy Chief Prosecutor at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, announced today (August 14) that it is conducting raids on the National Election Commission in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, as well as the Seoul and Gyeonggi provincial election commissions, and companies that participated in the bidding.
The search and seizure warrants specify charges including obstruction of bidding and professional breach of trust.
The National Election Commission previously sparked controversy after it was revealed to have signed a total of 103 contracts with three companies involving a former party affairs official, identified as A, along with A's spouse and son.
The scale of the contracts reaches 17.5 billion won, with 90 of them reportedly being private contracts.
The company where A serves as CEO supplied the controversial "semi-transparent in-jurisdiction early voting boxes" to the election commission for the June 3 local election.
The 790 early voting boxes manufactured by A's company and distributed nationwide were recalled after defects were found, such as improperly installed parts or faulty lock mechanisms.
The joint investigation team suspects that A's company was selected as the final contractor through a method where "stalking horse" or sham companies participated in the competitive bidding for the supply of early voting boxes.
The joint investigation team has also captured circumstances indicating that a large number of defects were found in the items supplied by A's company, delaying delivery beyond the contractual deadline.
Concluding that A's company inflicted financial damage on the election commission by supplying defective products, the joint investigation team applied charges of professional breach of trust and obstruction of bidding to one official from the company and unnamed election commission employees.
Officials from the Seoul and Gyeonggi provincial election commissions who participated as internal evaluation committee members during the bidding stage were also targeted in today's raids.
The joint investigation team has booked one company official after capturing suspicions that bidding was also obstructed in election material storage service contracts commissioned by the Busan, North Gyeongsang, and South Gyeongsang provincial election commissions in the second half of 2024.
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