Police Officer Who Embezzled 300 Million Won in Cash Seized from Gambling Den Faces Trial

Embezzled 75 Million Won as Seized Property Officer
After Transfer to Another Department, Diverted 225 Million Won

Cash photo (This image is unrelated to the article)

An active-duty police officer who embezzled and stole 300 million won in cash seized from gambling sites and other places was brought to trial in custody on the 11th.

The Criminal Division 3 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Choi Soon-ho) indicted Sergeant A of the Gangnam Police Station on charges of embezzlement in the course of duty and theft by nighttime trespassing.

Between June and July, while in charge of managing seized items at the Gangnam Police Station, A is accused of taking out 75 million won in cash from the seized items storage warehouse eight times and using the money for gift investments. Even after being transferred to another department, A allegedly found out the password to the seized items storage warehouse by making excuses such as "I need to find some items" and took out a total of 225 million won in cash 12 times until last month.

According to the prosecution's investigation, although A was designated as the person responsible for managing seized items, he was not granted access rights to the police forensic investigation platform (SCAS) and continued to perform the seized items management duties using the previous officer's ID and password. The prosecution judged that A did not properly receive the handover of duties and left the work to his predecessor while continuing the crime behind the scenes.

The Gangnam Police Station reportedly arrested A after discovering discrepancies between the ledger and the actual amount while inspecting recently seized cash.