▲ National Election Commission in Gwacheon
The special counsel team investigating the shortage of ballot papers in the June 3 local elections has launched another raid after uncovering additional allegations of a 14 billion won equipment supply corruption scandal involving National Election Commission (NEC) officials.
The special counsel team executed search and seizure warrants starting around 9:10 a.m. today (October 30) at the NEC and the residences of two current and former NEC officials, securing documents related to the equipment supply.
Seventeen personnel, including two dispatched prosecutors and five forensic investigators, were deployed to conduct the raids.
The special counsel team found circumstances indicating that when receiving high-end mechanical equipment used for elections, the relevant NEC officials processed them as passing despite confirming that more than half of the equipment failed to meet the passing standards in performance evaluations, allowing equipment worth approximately 14 billion won to be supplied in full.
It was learned that the search and seizure warrants included charges such as professional breach of trust.
The special counsel team is expanding its investigation into suspected lax management across the entire NEC.
The Special Counsel Act specifies that cases involving lax management and duty-related corruption across overall agency operations—such as lavish overseas trips by current and former NEC members, officials, and related parties; preferential treatment in children's promotions; corrupt hiring practices; preferential private contracts; and collusion with businesses—are subject to investigation.
Based on this, the special counsel team is focusing its investigative capabilities on uncovering suspicions of bidding and supply corruption by reviewing the NEC's overall election supplies service contracts, including advance ballot boxes and polling station guide materials, during last year's presidential election and this year's local elections.
For instance, they are investigating charges that a person surnamed A, a former head of the party affairs division at the NEC, won a bid for selecting an advance ballot box supplier for the June 3 local elections by putting up a dummy company.
There are also suspicions that the NEC formed a so-called "Sunfia cartel" (a compound of Sun-wan and Mafia) by concluding a total of 103 contracts worth 17.5 billion won with three companies linked to person A, his spouse, and his son.
The special counsel team also detected circumstances of tax evasion at five or more locations, including the ballot box manufacturing company operated by person A, and requested a tax audit from the National Tax Service.
Suspicions that the NEC gave preferential treatment to a specific company, B, in a 5 billion won polling station supply set manufacturing project during last year's presidential election and this year's local elections are also subject to investigation.
Circumstances in which city and provincial election commissions, including those in Busan, Gyeongsangnam-do, and Gyeongsangbuk-do, have entered into exclusive, preferential warehouse contracts with specific companies since 2022 are also under investigation.
In addition, the special counsel team is tightening the screws on its investigation after confirming that the NEC falsely entered hourly voter turnout figures in the June 3 local elections.
The number of city, county, and district election commissions confirmed to have falsely entered voter numbers has reached 36 to date.
Previously, the special counsel team publicly verified and removed approximately 2.47 million ballot papers from the Songpa area stored at the Handball Gymnasium in Olympic Park, Jamsil, Seoul, yesterday (October 28).
Among them, normal ballots were transferred to the NEC, and for ballots and equipment where objections were filed, the team plans to review whether to switch to a formal investigation after conducting additional precise appraisals.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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