Subsidy Embezzlement, Most Frequently Reported Corruption
By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
Government subsidies tend to be considered ``easy money'' as the embezzlement of state funds is the most frequently reported form of corruption, an anti-corruption body said Wednesday.
The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) led by Yang Kun said 77 cases of subsidy-related corruption have been reported by whistleblowers since 2002, 15 percent of the 515 cases total.
Of the 139 people involved in the cases, 17 were detained, 75 were arrests without physical detention and 47 faced internal discipline, according to the commission.
As a result, nearly 6.3 billion won (approximately $5.8 million) was recovered, it said.
Among subsidy-related corruption, staff of some welfare facilities such as orphanages and nursing homes were found to have used government funds for personal purposes.
Other facilities were reportedly falsifying expenditure budgets to fatten the wallets of facility managers.
``As government subsidies do not require profits in return, receivers tend to consider the funds easy money,'' ACRC spokesman Kim Dok-man said. ``Systematic measures are necessary to openly report how receivers use subsidies.''
Public bidding is also advisable before organizations sign construction contracts or purchase products with the subsidies, he added.
The commission will advise state-subsidized organizations on how to properly use subsidies, Kim said.