ROK Authorities Search for USFK Official Accused of Taking $890,000 Bribe
It just wouldn’t be a major construction project in Korea without a bribery scandal of some kind and USFK is not immune to this:
Police said Tuesday that they have raided SK Engineering & Construction Co. and its construction site on a U.S. base in central South Korea over slush fund allegations involving a U.S. military official.
The National Police Agency confiscated materials including account books and computer hard disks from the head office of SK E&C in Seoul and its work site at the U.S. Forces Korea base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, a police official said on condition of anonymity.
An SK E&C subcontractor allegedly stashed away about 1 billion won (US$890,000) and handed it over to a then USFK official in 2010, according to the official. The now-defunct subcontractor is headed by a former South Korean field officer.
The police have already obtained witness accounts from former employees of the subcontractor. They are currently investigating whether SK E&C was involved.
They have also sent investigators to the U.S. to ask U.S. law enforcement authorities for cooperation in searching for the former USFK official. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but $890,000 bribe has got to be one of the biggest bribery scandals in USFK history. That is a lot of money. If anyone is wondering, corruption involving USFK personnel is nothing new. What is important is that these people are caught and punished to discourage others from trying to pull off the same scams.
This is probably lost change in the sofa compared to the corruption that has yet to be fully exposed with billions of dollars that can’t be accounted for in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Somehow, CH2M Hill comes to mind.
Yes, JoeC I think USFK fraudster will have a hard time every beating out the fraudsters in Iraq and Afghanistan. Just the MAJ Cockerham case had him taking up to $15 million in bribes:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockerham_bribery_case
When you read up about this case you realize how stupid this guy was and was bound to get caught. However, how many people with a brain are out there that got away with taking the bribes?