Police Fail to Act on Prosecutors' Request for Supplementary Investigation for 4 Years, Delay Case Resolution

It has been confirmed that the police failed to respond to a request for a supplementary investigation from the prosecution for over four years due to an oversight by the officer in charge, only taking action as the statute of limitations was about to expire.
The Seoul Suseo Police Station forwarded the case to the prosecution in the middle of last month, five years after receiving a complaint requesting the punishment of a franchise nail salon for violating the Door-to-Door Sales Act.
The complainant filed the complaint in 2021, stating that after purchasing a membership from the company, the branches closed down en masse without providing guidance on consumer relief procedures, such as refunds.
The police initially dismissed the complaint, citing a lack of evidence to prove the company's charges. However, following the complainant's objection, the police resumed the investigation and forwarded the case to the prosecution in April of the following year.
At that time, the prosecution immediately returned the case with a request for a supplementary investigation. The police did not issue any further disposition for about four years, only re-forwarding the case with a recommendation of non-indictment when the statute of limitations for the charges (five years) was just one month away.
The police explained that the incident occurred due to a combination of a computer system error following the reorganization of the Korea Criminal Justice Information System (KICS) and a mistake by the investigator in charge, adding that the delay in disposition was not intentional.
The Suseo Police Station plans to launch an internal inspection of the investigator in question to determine the specific circumstances behind the delay in handling the case.
(Photo: Provided by Yonhap News TV, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.