National Tax Service Launches Tax Probe into 'Wildfire Cartel': Won 23 Billion Secured Across 6,500 Bids

[Anchor]

We previously brought you in-depth reports on so-called "locust bidding companies"—entities that set up shell companies to secure and abandon project rights while following wildfire sites around. The National Tax Service has now launched tax investigations into 10 companies where problems were clearly detected.

Here is a report by reporter Min Gyeongho.

[Reporter]

The National Tax Service has initiated tax probes into companies that evaded various taxes after securing wildfire restoration project rights through shell companies.

[Lee Sung-geul / Director General of the Investigation Bureau, National Tax Service: Targeting 10 companies and 41 shell companies where tax issues such as transactions involving false tax invoices and the recording of fictitious costs were clearly detected...]

An analysis revealed that they successfully won about 260 bids over the past six years, bagging a total of 23 billion won in projects.

To achieve this, they were found to have participated in some 6,500 bids by putting forward shell companies.

To bypass regional restriction bidding regulations designed to protect local small and medium-sized enterprises, they relocated their business sites multiple times. One company moved its business location 16 times over five years.

Among the suspected companies, some were found to have participated in hundreds of bids by mobilizing shell companies.

The National Tax Service also estimates that these companies evaded around 70 billion won in taxes.

To meet business performance criteria, they created false tax invoices with shell companies, and instead of actually hiring essential technical personnel, they illegally included expenses in their deductible losses by covertly paying only license rental fees in the form of salaries.

It was also revealed that they falsely recorded unspent expenses under accounts such as "miscellaneous expenses" and "other expenses," and arbitrarily prepared and submitted statements of daily worker income payments.

The National Tax Service stated that it will thoroughly collect the evaded taxes from companies that gained unfair profits, while also examining the sources of funds for controlling families suspected of forming wealth through expedients.

(Video Editing: Lee Sang-min)

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