South Korean public prosecutors have asked a court to jail a civil servant for five years after he admitted to “frittering away” money he stole from a public fund on online gambling platforms.
The South Korean newspaper Seoul Shinmun reported that an unnamed man, aged in his 30s, had confessed to stealing around $408,000 from a refuse management fund.
The man reportedly began stealing the money from his employer, Jeju City Hall, in 2018. Prosecutors told the court that he then made around 1,100 further withdrawals from the fund.
Prosecution officials made their request at a final hearing on the case in Jeju District Court’s Criminal Division. They also asked a panel of judges to impose a 601,066,040 won ($408,397) fine.
The court heard that the man made his first illicit theft from the fund in April 2018. He then continued to withdraw money from the fund until July 2025.
Prosecutors said the man worked in the city’s Living Environment Department, which supplies garbage bags to local retailers.
In South Korea, most regions require citizens to dispose of general waste in dedicated garbage bags, which are priced according to their volume.
Korean Prosecutors: Crime was Systematic
According to prosecution officials, the man delivered packages of garbage bags to designated sales locations, where he received payment in cash. But instead of logging these payments in the city hall’s system, he logged the orders as cancellations – and pocketed the money.
Officials said the man “squandered” the money on online gambling sites, using some of the funds to pay his bills and buy video games.
The prosecution told the court that the method of the man’s crime was “systematic.”
“He used most of the embezzled money on gambling sites, and has failed to pay his employee back,” a prosecutor told the court.
But the defendant pleaded for leniency, telling the court: “I am sorry for tarnishing the reputation of not only my colleagues but also the Jeju administrative system.”
He added that he would “not make any excuses or provide any alibis.” And the defendant concluded by vowing to repay the money he had embezzled. “I ask the court for leniency so that I can repay every penny as soon as I possibly can,” he told the court.
Earlier this month, the South Korean banking giant Hana Financial Group announced its commitment to invest over $4 million in youth gambling prevention programs over the next five years.
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South Korean public prosecutors have asked a court to jail a civil servant for five years after he admitted to “frittering away” money he stole from a public fund on online gambling platforms. The South Korean newspaper Seoul Shinmun reported that an unnamed man, aged in his 30s, had confessed to stealing around $408,000 from
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