"Airfare Inflation" Allegations: 20 Including Incheon Local Council Member Booked

It has been confirmed that current local council members and public officials in Incheon have been booked on criminal charges in connection with allegations of inflating airfare expenses for overseas business trips and using the excess as travel allowances.

The Anti-Corruption and Economic Crime Investigation Unit of the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency announced on December 10 that it has booked and is investigating 20 individuals, including a local council member from Incheon identified as A, on suspicion of fraud and other charges. The investigation reportedly includes council member A, public officials from five city, county, and district councils, as well as employees of travel agencies.

Incheon Airport (This photo is not directly related to the article)

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Council member A and others are suspected of excessively inflating airfare expenses for overseas business trips between 2023 and last year, and using the inflated amounts as travel expenses. They are alleged to have committed the offense by submitting airfare claims to their councils that were higher than the actual costs and then pocketing the difference.

Previously, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission conducted an inspection of 915 overseas business trips by local council members nationwide, organized by local councils, over a three-year period from January 2022 to May last year. As a result, they found that in 44.2% of cases (405 instances), air tickets were forged or altered to inflate actual expenses, and referred these cases to the local police agencies and police stations with jurisdiction over the respective councils for investigation.

Following the commission's referral, the police initially conducted a preliminary investigation before launching a formal criminal probe. They plan to conclude the investigation and refer those booked to the prosecution by next month. A police official stated, "As this is an ongoing investigation, we cannot disclose specific charges," adding, "The number of individuals booked may increase."

Meanwhile, according to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, over the past three years, a total of 915 overseas business trips were conducted by 243 metropolitan and local councils nationwide, with 10,524 people visiting 61 countries and approximately 35.5 billion won spent from the budget. The inspection revealed various irregularities and illegal acts during these overseas trips, including ticket manipulation, self-approval of business trips, false expense claims, and illegal donations in violation of the Public Official Election Act.

In 157 local councils, there were 405 cases where travel agencies listed airfares at amounts higher than the actual cost to generate profit or cover council travel allowances, with the excessive claims totaling approximately 1.88 billion won. These costs were ultimately covered by taxpayer money.

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