Police have launched a compulsory investigation into allegations that attorney fees for an employee's personal criminal case were paid with National Agricultural Cooperative Federation public funds.
According to police and others on the 13th, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Financial Crimes Investigation Unit conducted a search and seizure that day targeting the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation's Compliance Support Department in Jung-gu, Seoul. Police plan to examine how the public funds were executed and the internal decision-making process based on the materials secured.
The investigation began when the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs detected related suspicions during a comprehensive audit of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation early this year and asked police to investigate. The ministry is said to have confirmed during the January audit that about 320 million won in public funds appeared to have been used to pay attorney fees for employee A's personal criminal case.
The Seoul agency's Financial Crimes Investigation Unit took over the case and has continued the probe, and is currently verifying the facts with a focus on whether A committed occupational embezzlement.
At the time, the ministry released the interim audit results and also disclosed that it had requested an investigation. Police then analyzed related materials and questioned relevant parties before carrying out the search and seizure on this day, according to reports.
However, this case is said to be unrelated to the separate ongoing investigation into bribery allegations involving National Agricultural Cooperative Federation President Kang Ho-dong.