An employee of a computer equipment maintenance firm was booked by police for swapping out expensive school computer parts with low-spec products.
On the 22nd, the Namdong Police Station in Incheon booked without detention a former employee in his 40s, identified as A, from a certain computer equipment maintenance firm on suspicion of theft. A is accused of stealing 444 computer parts (worth 90 million won) from eight schools in Namdong and Bupyeong districts of Incheon earlier this year, where A was in charge of maintenance.
The stolen parts include 207 storage devices, 180 memory modules, and 57 central processing units (CPU). A is believed to have already disposed of most of the parts through secondhand transactions. During the investigation, police recovered 18 parts that A had kept at the company. In a police interview that day, A reportedly admitted to all the crimes, saying they were "to use for living expenses."
Earlier, teachers at the victimized schools requested an inspection from the firm after computer performance suddenly dropped, and it was found that the original components had been replaced with lower-spec parts.
The firm A belonged to formed a consortium with three other companies in March last year and signed an integrated maintenance contract with the Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education, and after signs of theft emerged, it fired A. The city office connects contracted firms to schools that need equipment maintenance and oversees the equipment.
Police have so far confirmed that A acted alone and are considering seeking an arrest warrant after additional investigation.