Public officials and travel agency representatives who inflated travel expenses during overseas trips by local councils in the Gwangju area have been referred to the prosecution in large numbers. This issue was uncovered during a comprehensive investigation by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, and the police concluded that some councils were not implicated.
The Anti-Corruption and Economic Crime Investigation Unit of the Gwangju Police Agency announced on the 18th that it had referred 14 individuals without detention, including five staff members from the secretariats of Dong-gu, Seo-gu, and Gwangsan-gu councils in Gwangju, as well as nine travel agency representatives, on charges such as fraud and falsification of official documents.
According to the police, between January 2022 and May of last year, these individuals are accused of inflating the costs of overseas trips organized by each district council and using the difference to cover council members' personal expenses instead of the members paying out of pocket.
The police also investigated whether council members were involved but stated that no evidence of criminal activity was found.
This investigation began after the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission conducted a nationwide survey of overseas trips by local councils and requested a police investigation. Although the Gwangju Metropolitan Council was included in the commission's request, the police determined that neither public officials nor council members from the metropolitan council were implicated.
Other local councils, such as Nam-gu and Buk-gu councils, were not included in the commission's comprehensive investigation.
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