"Using Subsidies Like Pocket Money"... 9 Social Welfare Corporations and Facilities Caught

The Gyeonggi-do Special Judicial Police Unit referred the representative of a social welfare corporation who misused subsidies for purposes other than intended to the prosecution.

A social welfare corporation and facility were caught by the Gyeonggi-do Special Judicial Police for misusing subsidies for other purposes and arbitrarily using livelihood benefits for the disabled. The total amount obtained through these illegal activities reached approximately 150 million KRW.

The Gyeonggi-do Special Judicial Police announced on the 12th that, after conducting a focused investigation from February to the end of June based on tips and inquiries into the legality of social welfare corporations and facilities, six out of nine individuals, including representatives of the social welfare corporations and facilities caught using subsidies for purposes other than intended, were sent to the prosecution. The Special Judicial Police added that the remaining three individuals will also be sent to the prosecution once the investigation is completed.

Regarding specific cases, K, a social worker at A Regional Child Center located in Uijeongbu City, falsified attendance records to appear as if working at the center while actually employed at another company. Y, the operator and spouse (representative), overlooked this and received 35 million KRW in labor cost subsidies from Uijeongbu City 16 times from January 2023 to April 2024, which were used for purposes other than intended, leading to their capture in this crackdown.

L, the director of B Daycare Center in Bucheon City, falsely reported working night overtime and received 4.79 million KRW in work allowances from Bucheon City over 10 months from July 2023 to April 2024, which were used for purposes other than intended. Night overtime allowances are subsidies paid when daytime childcare teachers work into the night, but L was found to have left early while falsely claiming to work overtime daily.

G, who worked at C Regional Self-Support Center, was responsible for purchasing supplies for the H Cafe under the self-support labor project. Using false estimates, G procured cheaper or used items different from the quoted ones and arbitrarily used a total of 2.38 million KRW in subsidies for other purposes 12 times from January to July 2023, resulting in being caught.

D is suspected of operating a residential facility for the disabled without reporting to the competent authorities as required when establishing and operating social welfare facilities for the disabled. D illegally housed six disabled individuals in an unauthorized building and withdrew a total of 112.65 million KRW in cash 197 times from November 2018 to November 2023 for arbitrary use.

Additionally, the Special Judicial Police sent to the prosecution an operator in Yangpyeong-gun who allowed disabled individuals to reside in a building without reporting to the competent authorities on charges of operating an unreported social welfare facility, and the representative of E Home Care Senior Welfare Center in Seongnam City on charges of obstructing supervision by submitting false documents related to welfare facility operations.

According to the current “Social Welfare Services Act,” those who use subsidies for purposes other than intended face imprisonment of up to five years or fines up to 50 million KRW, and those who establish or operate facilities without reporting face imprisonment of up to one year or fines up to 10 million KRW.

A representative of the Special Judicial Police stated, "We plan to continue investigations into institutions committing illegal acts to ensure that honest social welfare corporations, facilities, and personnel who quietly do their best to provide social welfare services do not suffer damage."