I Found a Wallet and Took It to the Police Station... The Officer Sneaked Away with '200,000 Won'

Sent to Prosecution on Charges of Embezzlement in the Course of Duty

An active-duty police officer was handed over to the prosecution on charges of stealing money from a wallet that had been registered as lost property.

According to the police on the 14th, the Seodaemun Police Station in Seoul sent 20-year-old police officer A, who belongs to the Yeonsinnae Precinct of the Eunpyeong Police Station, to the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office without detention on the 9th on charges of embezzlement during duty. The charge involves embezzling 200,000 won from a wallet containing 203,000 won that was registered as lost property while on duty in December last year. Officer A wrote on the lost property registration form that the wallet contained 3,000 won.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

A citizen who retrieved the wallet noticed that 200,000 won was missing and filed a complaint, and the citizen who initially found the wallet and handed it over to the precinct testified that "there was 203,000 won in the wallet when it was picked up," leading to Officer A being booked as a suspect at the Seodaemun Police Station at the end of February.

Officer A is actively denying the charges, but the investigation, including CCTV footage inside the precinct, revealed suspicious circumstances supporting the allegations, resulting in the case being sent to the prosecution. The police plan to proceed with disciplinary action against Officer A depending on the prosecution's decision.

Earlier, at the end of last year, there was also an incident where a substation chief belonging to the Mapo Police Station in Seoul took 2 million won in cash from a wallet found by a citizen and registered as lost property.