An incumbent police officer took money and favors and leaked investigation information, then was caught through a supplementary investigation by prosecutors.
The Criminal Division 6 of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office (Chief Prosecutor Jeon Cheol-ho) said on the 12th that it indicted without detention former police officer A on charges of bribery, brokerage bribery, violating the Act on the Promotion of Digitalization of Criminal Procedure, and violating the Personal Information Protection Act.
Prosecutors also indicted without detention broker B, who arranged the case, on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (brokerage graft), offering bribes, and violating the Personal Information Protection Act, and indicted without detention businessman C on charges of occupational embezzlement and violating the Personal Information Protection Act.
According to prosecutors, A, a lieutenant who was serving at a police station in Seoul, is accused of receiving 24 million won in cash and valuables from broker B between February 2022 and December 2024, along with two rounds of expensive entertainment at a nightlife establishment worth about 700,000 won per person and one massage entertainment worth about 150,000 won per person, totaling about 1.55 million won in favors.
In return, A repeatedly approached fellow officers handling a case related to Jeonju-based C to ask about the progress of the investigation, and was found to have accessed the police information network without authorization to look up personal information of people connected to the case and, through B, passed it to C to block the expansion of a criminal investigation related to C's personal debt collection.
From February 2022 to June 2024, B is accused of continually receiving about 400 million won in cash and valuables from C under the pretext of "exerting influence on the investigator," then providing part of it to A as a bribe. B was also found to have received personal information of people connected to the case that A looked up without authorization and provided it to C, serving as the key conduit connecting illegal solicitations between police officer A and Jeonju-based C.
Jeonju-based C is accused of embezzling about 300 million won from a corporation C ran between April 2022 and March 2023 to prepare part of the money for solicitations in order to block the expansion of an investigation into C's criminal case and secure favorable statements. C is also accused of asking A through B to check the progress of the investigation and to look up personal information of people connected to the case without authorization, and of actually receiving personal information such as the addresses of people connected to the case.
Police originally in charge of the case viewed it as a simple bribery case and referred it without detention, but as prosecutors reviewed the referral records, they determined the motive and structure of the crime were unclear and launched a supplementary investigation. Prosecutors analyzed call records that had not been examined during the police investigation stage and searched the residences of the suspects, securing additional key evidence including C's mobile phone.
Through this, prosecutors newly confirmed additional favors that had not surfaced during the police investigation stage and unauthorized lookups of personal information. They effectively clarified the overall solicitation structure linking "patron in Jeonju → broker → police officer."
A prosecutor said, "We will continue to thoroughly investigate corrupt acts within investigative agencies and crimes related to solicitations and brokerage in the performance of public duties, and we will respond sternly to misconduct that undermines public trust in criminal justice."