A power distribution box installed in a commercial building.

When the iron cover is opened, electric wires wrapped in black tape are revealed.

The secretly cut wires were reconnected to the electric meter.

Electricity sent from KEPCO passes through the meter before entering commercial stores or homes.

This is to check how much electricity is used.

However, a group that stole electricity by directly connecting it to commercial stores, bypassing the meter, has been caught by the police.

From October 2020 to May of this year, they cut two out of three wires connected to the electric meters and directly connected them to the commercial building.

By allowing only one-third of the actually consumed electricity to pass through the meter, they significantly reduced their electricity bills.

Receiving a tip-off, the police conducted a joint investigation with Korea Electric Power Corporation and confirmed that the electrical wiring was manipulated in 91 commercial stores, including supermarkets and restaurants in Jeonju and Gimje.

[Yoo Sung-min / Jeonbuk Provincial Police Agency Metropolitan Investigation Unit : The total amount of stolen electricity is 8.41 million kWh, worth about 950 million won. 8.41 million kWh is the amount of electricity that 40,000 households in the Jeonbuk region can use for a month.]

It was revealed that the representative of an electrical equipment company pocketed an average work fee of 5 million won per case in exchange for manipulating the electrical wiring.

The police have sent four people, including the representative of the electrical equipment company and a broker, to prosecutors, and are also booking and investigating 67 commercial store owners who requested the electricity theft on charges of special larceny.

Korea Electric Power Corporation imposed 2.9 billion won in penalties, which is three times the stolen electricity bill, on the caught store owners.

The police advised the public to be cautious, stating that accepting offers to easily reduce electricity bills can lead not only to criminal punishment but also to massive financial losses.

(Video Reported by : Jeong Hee-do from JTV, Design : Won So-jung from JTV)

Kim Min-ji from JTV