Request Data from Lawmaker Lee Joo-hwan to the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service... Fraudulent Benefit Amount 20.9 Billion Won
[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] #Mr. A, who was working at a construction company, concealed the fact that he injured his finger while fishing on a boat at sea and fabricated the accident circumstances to make it appear as if he injured his finger while organizing the construction company's material warehouse, fraudulently receiving insurance benefits.
#Business owner Mr. B hid the fact that he was a business owner and pretended to be a daily worker at another workplace, falsifying the accident circumstances and worker status to receive industrial accident insurance benefits. He was subjected to double recovery and prosecution measures along with accomplices.
According to data received on the 15th from the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service by Lee Joo-hwan, a member of the National Assembly's Environment and Labor Committee from the People Power Party, the number of detected cases of fraudulent claims for leave and industrial accident insurance in the past five years (2018 to the end of July 2022) reached a total of 2,662 cases.
The amount of fraudulent claims was 20.969 billion KRW, of which 16.78 billion KRW (1,416 cases) were fraudulent industrial accident insurance claims, and 4.261 billion KRW (1,246 cases) were fraudulent leave benefit claims.
The number of fraudulent claims by year slightly decreased from 505 cases (3.313 billion KRW) in 2018 to 468 cases (7.095 billion KRW) in 2019, but increased to 636 cases (6.264 billion KRW) in 2020 and 689 cases (2.592 billion KRW) in 2021. This year, 364 cases (1.705 billion KRW) were detected up to the end of July.
The Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service collects twice the amount actually received when fraudulent claims are detected, and the total amount decided for collection in the past five years reached 41.188 billion KRW. However, only 7.487 billion KRW, or 18.2%, has been recovered, indicating a low recovery rate. In particular, the recovery rate for industrial accident insurance was only 16.1% in 2018, 15.1% in 2019, 7.5% in 2020, 23.2% in 2021, and 17.6% up to the end of July this year.
Assemblyman Lee said, "The types of fraudulent claims that undermine the soundness of insurance finances are becoming increasingly sophisticated and diverse, and even when detected, proper recovery measures are not being implemented, which is a serious problem," adding, "The Service must prepare effective recovery measures and establish drastic measures to eradicate fraudulent claims."
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