[Anchor]

A Hanwoo beef theft case worth 4 billion won has occurred at an agricultural cooperative in Gangwon Province, which includes over 70 livestock farms. It was discovered that the person in charge of distribution orchestrated the crime, even going as far as establishing separate business entities to systematically siphon off the beef.

G1 Broadcasting reporter Kim Do-woon reports.

[Reporter]

A livestock agricultural cooperative in the province noticed irregularities in its sales figures starting last year.

An internal investigation confirmed that a manager, identified as A, who was in charge of the cooperative's distribution operations, had been stealing Hanwoo beef for several years.

[Cooperative Official: Since two distribution staff members were responsible for all incoming and outgoing cattle and transactions, it was difficult for other employees to notice anything...]

From 2021 until recently, it is estimated that there were over 1,000 instances of theft, totaling 4 billion won. The suspect allegedly diverted beef destined for restaurants managed by the cooperative to other locations or manipulated documents to make it appear as though the stock was still available.

The stolen Hanwoo was supplied to other butcher shops at prices lower than the market rate.

The businesses that received the beef, unaware that it was stolen, claim they are also victims, stating they had no idea there was a problem.

[Butcher Shop Official: He told us that since he held a position, he was just offloading excess stock at a lower price. It wasn't like he was delivering it in his personal car; a delivery driver was dropping it off (in a cooperative vehicle), so why would anyone pay attention to that?]

A is also suspected of setting up several butcher shops under borrowed names to sell the stolen Hanwoo and managing the distribution himself.

[Building Manager where the butcher shop was located: There was no sign. There was nothing, just refrigerators. We didn't even know what kind of business it was.]

After being caught and forced to leave the cooperative, A even took advantage of times when no other employees were around to steal more meat from the warehouse.

A has been referred to the prosecution under arrest and has been indicted. The police have also uncovered evidence that a senior official at the cooperative, identified as B, may have used similar methods to steal Hanwoo, and are expanding their investigation.

Meanwhile, it is reported that A stated during police questioning that he squandered the proceeds from his crimes on gambling and investments.

(Video by Seo Jin-hyung, G1 Broadcasting)

Reported by Kim Do-woon, G1