Seoul National University Foreign Professor Embezzles 100 Million Won Research Funds and Flees to Home Country
[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] It has been confirmed that a foreign professor at Seoul National University fled to his home country while under investigation for improperly receiving research funds exceeding 100 million won.
According to Seoul National University on the 7th, a foreign professor A, affiliated with the university's College of Dentistry, has been under police investigation for fraudulent receipt of research and development funds.
Previously, Professor A was reported to the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission in March 2018 on suspicion of improperly receiving research funds from 2013 to 2017. In August of the same year, the Commission transferred the case to the police, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Science and ICT. The Commission refers cases to relevant agencies when it deems investigation necessary.
Professor A is known to have embezzled wages by reclaiming labor costs paid to master's students and falsely registering his own family members, unrelated to the research, as doctoral researchers. He also used research staff meal expenses and meeting costs for personal purposes. It is reported that the amount Professor A embezzled through these methods was about 120 million won.
However, in 2019, while the investigation was ongoing, Professor A applied for a research sabbatical and left for his home country, India, and did not return. A research sabbatical is a leave of about one year granted by a university or research institution for free research activities.
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Accordingly, Seoul National University processed Professor A's retirement in November last year. A university official explained, "While we were proceeding with disciplinary actions against Professor A, he returned to his home country and did not respond to summons attempts, so we retired him by dismissal in absentia. Since his whereabouts could not be confirmed, the prosecution also notified us that they would suspend the indictment."
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