[Exclusive] Arirang TV under probe for possible embezzlement

By Lee Tae-hoon

Arirang TV is under investigation for coercing its employees to operate a host of “borrowed-name” bank accounts, raising suspicions of possible embezzlement, according to the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) Thursday.

The state-run watchdog suspects that Arirang TV instructed its producers to divert employees’ wages into bank accounts belonging to people who have never worked for the English-language broadcaster in order to create a secret fund.

The ACRC found that a former chief producer of the entertainment news program “Showbiz Extra,” identified as Park, intentionally paid certain employees as little as half of their wages to build the slush fund, allegedly being coerced to do so by her superior.

“We’ve discovered that Arirang TV has misappropriated at least 120 million won ($106,680) through the use of a number of borrowed-name accounts,”an ACRC official told The Korea Times, asking for anonymity.

Park initially denied the allegation but later acknowledged that the head of the production team coerced her to misappropriate wages, citing the need for “flexible corporate management,” an informed source at Arirang TV said.

“Park set the translation fee for the entertainment news program at 2 million won per week, but, instead of giving the full amount, she paid only 1.1 million won a week to the program’s translators.”

The remainder allegedly went to a bank account opened by a bogus translator.

“A 20-year-old college girl, who is known to have never participated in any production work, received 1.1 million won or slightly more each week,” the source said.

He said even if she was actually on the staff list, it would be hard to believe such a young person could make so much money.

According to Arirang TV documents The Korea Times obtained, the alleged bogus translator of Showbiz Extra, named Kim Jin-ah, received some 81 million won between September 2006 and December 2007 from the state-funded TV station.

The ACRC said that in a desperate attempt to conceal borrowed-name accounts, Park tried to fire several staff members in early 2008, ahead of a major staff reorganization, by falsely accusing them of receiving too much money.

The watchdog said the layoff list included an Ivy League graduate with several years of translation experience who in fact was underpaid.

It also discovered that Park, who now works as the producer of “Now in North Korea,” used a bank account of Suzanne Jung, an anchor of Channel News Asia, a television station in Singapore, without her permission.

The documents clearly show that Kim and Channel News Asia host Jung were not on the staff list, but on the paycheck list.

They suggest that some 1.2 million won of Showbiz Extra’s staff wages was transferred to Jung’s account per month between 2007 and 2008 on the false premise that she actually appeared on the show.

Jung only worked as a reporter at Arirang TV for two years before joining the Singaporean broadcaster in December 2002. She is currently hosting the network’s flagship morning show “Primetime Morning.”

In a telephone interview, Jung told The Korea Times that she was not aware that the money was transferred to one of her Korean bank accounts.

“I cannot recall doing any work for Arirang TV in the two-year period or giving anyone permission to access my bank account,” she said.

The ACRC has yet to confirm who withdrew money from the borrowed-name accounts of Kim and Jung, but plans to ask the prosecution or police to probe the case once it wraps up its own investigation by the end of the month.

Several insiders of Arirang TV told the paper that the public network has long operated borrowed-name accounts to raise money for social gatherings and pay more wages or financial incentives to certain employees.

They claim that it has been difficult to locate false name accounts at Arirang TV due to frequent changes of staff members, many of whom are overseas Koreans and prefer to be referred to by their English names, rather than their official Korean name.

[단독] 아리랑 TV 횡령 혐의 포착

차명계좌 통해 비자금 조성 의혹 제기돼

국민권익위원회는 문화관광부 산하의 아리랑 TV가 직원을 강요해 차명계좌를 운영하여 인건비를 횡령한 혐의를 포착하고 수사 중이라고 6일 밝혔다.

익명을 요구한 한 관계자에 따르면 권익위는 Showbiz Extra라는 프로그램을 담당했던 박모 PD가 적게는 기준 임금의 반만 지급하고 나머지 금액을 차명계좌로 입금하는 방식으로 비자금을 조성한 증거를 확보했다.

그는 1억 2,000여 만 원의 Showbiz Extra 직원의 인건비가 차명계좌로 입금된 것으로 파악되었다고 밝혔다.

아리랑 TV 한 내부 관계자에 따르면 박 PD는 문제가 불거지자 모든 혐의를 완강히 부인했다가 결국에는 당시 제작팀 팀장의 강요로 차명계좌를 운영한 것을 인정했다고 말했다.

본지가 확보한 자료에 따르면 박PD는 매주 200만원이 배정된 번역예산 중 110만원만을 번역가에게 지불한 것으로 나타났다. 나머지는 실제 근무하지 않은 당시 20세였던 김진아씨의 계좌로 입금된 것으로 나타났다.

또한 싱가포르 국영 영어방송 뉴스 채널(Channel NewsAsia)의 간판급 여성 앵커인 수잔 정 (한국명: 정세은)씨에게도 월 120만원씩 2008년과 2009년 2년에 걸쳐 직접 출연료 명목으로 입금된 것이 확인됐다.

그러나 정씨는 본지와의 전화 인터뷰에서 2000년 초 아리랑 TV 기자로 일한 적이 있으나 그 이후에는 일하지 않았다며 본인의 계좌로 입금이 되고 있다는 사실조차 모른다고 밝혔다.

정씨는 2002년 12월부터 Channel NewsAsia에 재직하고 있다.

복수의 제보자에 의하면 아리랑 TV는 회식비, 운영비등의 이유로 차명계좌를 운영해 왔으며 사내규정 이상의 급여를 특정 직원에 지급하기 위해 차명계좌를 용인해 왔다는 것이다.

아리랑 TV는 프로그램 개편 등으로 인한 직원 변동이 많고 영어 이름을 쓰는 교포와 유학파 프리랜서 직원들이 많아 차명계좌를 적발하는데 어려움이 있다.

하지만 아리랑 TV는 내부 회계감사를 철저히 해오고 있으므로 실명이 확인 되지 않은 계좌에 입금되었을 가능성이 없다며 차명계좌의 존재를 부인했다. 아리랑 TV는 또한 현재까지 차명계좌가 확인되거나 이슈화 된 경우도 없다고 밝혔다.

권익위는 내부 조사를 늦어도 이달 말까지 종료하고 사건을 수사기관에 이첩할 예정이다.