[The Police File]Donation Scandals Undermine the Spirit of Giving

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety recently confirmed misconduct within the Hope Bridge National Disaster Relief Association (Hope Bridge) and referred the case to the prosecution for investigation. Issues were found across overall operations, including personnel and service, budgeting, accounting, contracts, and the solicitation and use of relief funds and donations. According to the Ministry, during the recruitment document review process, certain individuals were designated to the review committee and pressured to assign high scores, and without any regulatory basis, external cooperation officers were appointed and operated while continuously receiving advisory fees.

Most notably, accounting fraud, a sensitive issue for donors, was confirmed. Relief funds and donations were managed under a single accounting system, making it impossible to separate projects and transparently distinguish income and expenditures. It was also pointed out that donated stocks were liquidated in the following fiscal year and deposited into the distribution committee’s account, violating the obligation to immediately deposit relief funds and causing a loss in donation value. The association signed multiple advisory service contracts with a company whose director was an advisory committee member; this company submitted service deliverables by merely changing the names on other authors’ papers. Despite losing a criminal lawsuit, the association filed a civil lawsuit on the same matter and lost again, resulting in excessive litigation costs.

Hope Bridge is one of South Korea’s leading disaster relief organizations and a key player in spreading a culture of donation. It originated from the “National Flood Countermeasures Committee,” the first private fundraising organization established in July 1961 when floods occurred in Chungcheong Province, Honam, and Yeongnam regions. Since then, it has introduced various fundraising methods and campaigns such as student fundraising, public official fundraising, theater fundraising, stamp fundraising, the “Fruit of Love” badge campaign, and ARS fundraising to support disaster victims. During this summer’s heavy rains, numerous companies, celebrities, and ordinary citizens donated funds here for recovery efforts.

Hope Bridge, now under prosecution investigation, stated, “We sincerely apologize to the public,” but also denied the allegations, saying, “We will respond sincerely and transparently to upcoming investigations to reveal the truth.” They refuted some of the allegations point by point. Whether actual corrupt acts occurred and whether they will lead to punishment remains to be seen through the investigation. However, the fact that a donation organization was pointed out for corruption in a government audit and is now under investigation has damaged the trust built over more than 60 years. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s remark that “more transparent management and operation are necessary since public donations are being used” is therefore well-founded.

Whenever controversies arise regarding donation organizations or recipients, donations shrink. This was the case in 2017. Lee Young-hak, known as the “Molar Dad,” who murdered his daughter’s friend, amassed over 1 billion won in donations under the pretext of treating his daughter’s rare disease and lived a luxurious life driving expensive foreign cars. In the same year, the “New Hope Seed” case, involving embezzlement of 12.7 billion won in donations, was exposed. The result was a “donation freeze” at the end of the year. On December 14, six years ago, the “Love Thermometer” (which rises 1 degree for every 1% of the donation target achieved) was at 27.9 degrees, 13 degrees lower than the same period the previous year. At that time, the neologism “donation phobia” even emerged. Recurring suspicions of donation-related corruption whenever they surface lower the warmth of sharing. The winter for marginalized neighbors becomes all the colder. The prosecution must excise the rotten parts through strict investigation. Strengthening transparency goes without saying. We should keep in mind Warren Buffett’s words: “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.”