By Lee Kyung-min
Police will crack down strongly on corruption involving school meals following the recent case at Choongam High School in Seoul where school officials and food suppliers allegedly embezzled 410 million won from the lunch budget.
The National Police Agency (NPA) said Monday it would crack down on collusion between food suppliers and school officials, embezzlement of a school’s budget by manipulating the account books, poor food hygiene and supplying substandard ingredients.
School officials suspected of embezzling food budgets will be held for investigation. Suppliers who were not directly involved in such embezzlement but had gained financially through the corruption will also face questioning. Illicit financial gains will be returned to the school and the parents.
The NPA is also considering raising the cash reward for people reporting irregularities from 5 million won to 50 million won.
Police will also intensify the crackdown on substandard food in cooperation with related agencies.
Food suppliers and distributors who forge hygiene regulation tests will face immediate suspension of their business with the schools, and administrative measures such as license cancelation.
The strong crackdown follows the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE) audit findings of Choongam, Oct. 4
School officials, including the former principal and school meal subcontractors, have allegedly been siphoning off a sizable amount of the food supplies since 2012. The school also failed to meet several safety standards, according to the SMOE.
The students said they not only had to eat food of poor quality, but also skimpy portions.
The school denied the allegations and said it would file a defamation suit against the SMOE for making a false accusation.
The Seoul Western Prosecutors’ Office launched an investigation Thursday, questioning school officials in charge of managing meal contracts.