Five Indicted, Including Two Active Police Officers, for Leaking Internal Information to Private Investigators

Active police officers have been indicted for leaking information on wanted individuals to private investigators in exchange for money, and even creating a price list to sell personal information of citizens.

The Suwon District Prosecutors' Office Criminal Division 1 (Chief Prosecutor Kim Hee-young) announced on Wednesday (July 15) that it has indicted two police officers, a 47-year-old Police Inspector (Gyeonggam) identified as A and a 41-year-old Police Sergeant (Gyeongsa) identified as B, both serving at different local police stations in Gyeonggi Province, on charges including accepting bribes after committing misconduct and leaking official secrets.

Three private investigators, identified as C (63), D (41), and E (45), who engaged in transactions with the officers, were also indicted on charges including bribery and violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Crimes (mediation of bribery).

Investigations revealed that Inspector A and Sergeant B did not know each other, and their crimes were separate cases.

However, it was found that the prosecution uncovered Sergeant B's separate criminal activities while tracking the information trading network of private investigators during the supplementary investigation into Inspector A's case.

Inspector A is accused of receiving 1 million won in June last year after illegally searching for and leaking information on wanted fugitives, including those suspected of operating gambling sites, through the Korea Police Information System (KICS) at the request of private investigator C.

The investigation showed that this information was passed through C to another investigator, D, and eventually reached the wanted individuals themselves.

In this process, it was found that D received 15 million won from the wanted individuals.

Initially, the police referred only Inspector A to the prosecution regarding this case, judging it as a simple leak of secrets without any quid pro quo.

While Inspector A admitted to leaking the information, he denied receiving money. The police referred the case to the prosecution without conducting additional investigations, such as tracking bank accounts, to verify whether there was any bribery or accomplices.

During this process, the police confiscated Inspector A's mobile phone but returned the device just before the referral, citing that he did not provide the password.

Inspector A subsequently sold the phone on a second-hand trading app, and its whereabouts remain unknown.

Upon receiving the case, the prosecution conducted a comprehensive supplementary investigation, including tracking bank accounts, and identified the existence of private investigators such as C and D.

While tracking their communication and transaction records, the prosecution discovered evidence of criminal activity by another active officer, Sergeant B.

Sergeant B is accused of operating a private detective agency under a borrowed name and receiving 700,000 won for leaking information on fraud suspects to D.

In particular, it was revealed that Sergeant B created a price list for personal information accessible via police terminals—such as 150,000 won for vehicle registration inquiries and 800,000 won for criminal record checks—and promoted these services via Telegram.

Investigations showed that he frequently performed unauthorized searches for personal information at the request of investigators like E and sold the data through price negotiations.

A prosecution official stated, "We will continue to respond strictly to public official corruption and crimes involving the leakage of investigative information through thorough supplementary investigations and judicial oversight."
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.