CEO of Company Accused of Pocketing 4.7 Billion Won in Subsidies with Battery-Free 'Fake Electric Cars' Indicted and Detained

The CEO of a manufacturing company who deceived by importing only car bodies without batteries and falsifying documents to claim that they were complete vehicles, thereby embezzling 4.7 billion KRW in electric vehicle purchase subsidies, has been brought to trial.

Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office
Photo by Yonhap News

The Criminal Division 5 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Lee Joon-dong) announced on the 20th that on the 18th, Lee Mo was arrested and indicted on charges including fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes and violations of the Subsidy Management Act. Four others, including the CEO of an automobile special equipment company who participated in Lee's crimes, were also indicted without detention.

Lee is accused of embezzling 4.7 billion KRW in electric vehicle subsidies from two local governments, Daegu and Yongin, between December 2020 and December 2021. According to the prosecution, Lee imported only car bodies from China without installing batteries, deceived authorities by presenting these incomplete vehicles as complete cars to obtain vehicle registration certificates, and then, through the CEO of an automobile special equipment company and others, borrowed buyers' names to create false purchase contracts and receive electric vehicle subsidies.

Investigations revealed that Lee committed the crimes by exploiting the fact that subsidy applications and payments from local governments were conducted in writing while experiencing business difficulties. The police, who initially investigated the case, transferred 36 people including Lee to the prosecution last month. Among them, the prosecution has brought five individuals with more serious charges to trial.