Prosecution Indicts and Detains Police Officer for Leaking Investigation Information in Exchange for Bribes

Prosecution: "Supplementary Investigation Revealed the Full Extent of the Case"

An incumbent police officer who leaked investigative information in exchange for money and entertainment, along with a broker who connected the bribery scheme, has been indicted and detained. The fund provider (jeonju), who financed the request, has been indicted without physical detention.

On February 12, the Sixth Criminal Division of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Jeon Cheolho) announced that it had indicted incumbent police officer A under detention on charges including bribery and violations of the Personal Information Protection Act. The prosecution also indicted broker B under detention on charges including offering bribes, and indicted without detention businessman C, who acted as the fund provider, on charges including occupational embezzlement.

Prosecutors. Yonhap News

According to the prosecution, A, who was serving as an inspector at a police station in the Seoul area, was indicted on charges of receiving from broker B, between February 2022 and December 2024, 24 million won in cash, two rounds of entertainment at nightlife establishments worth about 700,000 won per person, and one massage session worth about 150,000 won per person, totaling about 1.55 million won in entertainment.

In return for this entertainment, A is alleged to have checked the progress of an investigation involving C, to have accessed the police information system without authorization to look up personal information of people connected to the case, and then to have passed that information to C through B.

Broker B has been brought to trial on charges of receiving about 400 million won from C between February 2022 and June 2024 on the pretext of "exerting influence on the investigator in charge." B is also charged with connecting the entire influence-peddling process, including passing on to C the personal information that A had accessed. The prosecution believes that part of the 400 million won B received from C was provided to A as bribes.

Businessman C has been indicted on charges of diverting about 300 million won from corporate funds of a company he operated between April 2022 and March 2023 to block the expansion of the criminal investigation against him and to secure favorable statements, using part of the diverted money as influence-peddling funds, and requesting confirmation of the investigation status and inquiries into personal information through the broker.

The police had initially referred A to the prosecution without detention, treating the matter as a simple bribery case. However, the prosecution judged that the motive and structure of the crime were unclear, initiated a supplementary investigation on its own authority, and expanded the case into a structural influence-peddling scheme. By widening its account-tracing, analyzing call records, conducting searches and seizures of suspects' residences, and performing digital forensics on mobile phones, the prosecution identified additional instances of entertainment being provided and confirmed the unauthorized access to personal information.

A prosecution official stated, "We will work to confiscate and recover the illegal proceeds related to this case," adding, "We will continue to thoroughly investigate corrupt acts within investigative agencies and crimes involving requests and solicitations related to the performance of public duties, and we plan to respond strictly to misconduct that undermines public trust in the criminal justice system."