Yoo Si-chun Scandal: President of EBS Faces Misappropriation Allegations

Yoo Si-chun, president of the Korea Educational Broadcasting Corporation (EBS), leaves the hearing before the dismissal resolution of the president of EBS held at the Korea Communications Commission at the Gwacheon Government Complex on the afternoon of the 26th of last month. /News 1

The prosecution, which is investigating allegations of “personal misappropriation of company cards” by Yoo Si-chun, president of the Korea Educational Broadcasting Corporation (EBS), conducted a search and seizure of EBS on the 30th.

The Goyang Branch of Uijeongbu District Prosecutor’s Office sent investigation personnel to the EBS Building in Ilsandong-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do from 10am this day to conduct a search and seizure of President Yoo’s office .

The prosecution reportedly named President Yoo as the suspect in the warrant. The charge is breach of duty. It turned out that this search and seizure was conducted because President Yoo did not provide details about using the company card. A prosecution official said, “A search and seizure of the office PC was conducted in the presence of President Yoo and his lawyer.”

Prosecutors are investigating suspicions President Yoo misused company cards. Previously, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission conducted an investigation after receiving a report that President Yoo had violated the anti-corruption law and illegally used company expenses.

According to the Commission on Civil Rights, President Yoo was found to have made payments worth 17 million won about 200 times with a company card at butcher shops, department stores and side dishes shops over the five years since he took office as president of EBS in September 2018. . On public holidays such as Saturday, Sunday and Children’s Day, there were more than 100 cases where business promotion funds were spent throughout Jeju Island, Gyeongsangbuk-do and Gangwon-do in name of “listening to employee opinions”. It was confirmed that in many cases, the place where President Yoo said he used the company expenses and the place where the company card was actually paid for were different. The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission estimated that President Yoo’s fraudulent use amounted to tens of millions of won.

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission has requested the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office to investigate the allegations of personal misuse of company cards, and the Goyang branch of the Uijeongbu District Prosecutor’s Office has taken over the matter and is investigating. The prosecution plans to analyze the results of this search and seizure and conduct a subpoena investigation into President Yoo in the future.

Regarding this day’s search and seizure, the EBS headquarters of the National Union of Press Workers protested in a statement, saying: “We call it an outrage against the EBS and an extension of the attempts of the the current administration to control public broadcasting and the media.”

As a result, the prosecution released an official statement to the media, stating: “The search and seizure warrant executed against the EBS office was intended to investigate allegations of personal corruption by the president of EBS and was unrelated to EBS activity, broadcast, or signaling activity.” “The prosecution received a seizure warrant from the court to protect related materials, explained the situation to EBS and executed the warrant with minimal cooperation from EBS,” he explained.

Meanwhile, President Yoo denies all allegations, stating: “The business expenses were used to carry out tasks and were not used for personal purposes.” She is the older sister of former People’s World Foundation president Roh Moo-hyun Yoo Si-min.

#Prosecution #search #seizure #EBS.. #President #Yoo #Sichun #suspected #company #card #personal