Wallet Reported to Police Station, But Cash Goes Missing: Did an Officer Take It?

The police have launched an investigation after approximately 400,000 won in cash and gift certificates went missing from a lost wallet that had been turned in to a police station.

On March 27, the Eoeun Community Policing Center under the Yuseong Police Station received a report from a citizen who had found a wallet.

The wallet contained cash and department store gift certificates worth 420,000 won.

Following standard procedures for lost property, the police notified the owner, a person in their 30s identified as A, who had previously reported the wallet as lost.

When A visited the police station to retrieve the wallet, they discovered that only the cash and gift certificates were missing.

Having received no explanation regarding the whereabouts of the valuables, A suspected that the items had been stolen while in police custody and filed a complaint against the officials at the Yuseong Police Station for theft.

Typically, when a community policing center or a local patrol division receives lost property, it is transferred to the lost and found department of the jurisdictional police station and kept securely until the owner arrives to claim it.

The Daejeon Jungbu Police Station, which has been assigned the case, is focusing on the possibility of internal misconduct, as the items disappeared while in custody, and is investigating the matter under charges of embezzlement.

The police are currently investigating all relevant personnel, including the staff who initially received the lost item and those responsible for its storage.

"If any wrongdoing is uncovered, we will proceed with both criminal charges and disciplinary actions against the individual involved," the police stated.

Reported by Jung Da-eun | Video by Jung Yong-hee | Graphics by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.