*This content was translated by AI.
- Embezzlement of over 5.8 billion won detected this year2023 and 2025 embezzlements confirmed again
A professional soccer team in K League 2, Kimpo FC, which caused a stir after it was discovered that an employee had embezzled over 5.8 billion won of public funds, has been found to have committed embezzlement in the past as well. The amount of embezzlement identified so far, including this year, exceeds a staggering 8 billion won.
According to a summary of the report on the implementation plan for promises made during the ninth term of local government held at Kimpo City Hall conference room on the 27th, an audit revealed that in addition to this year, the same employee embezzled club funds in both 2023 and 2025. The identified embezzlement amounts were 180 million won in 2023 and between 2.3 billion and 2.4 billion won in 2025; adding this year's identified amount brings the total well over 8 billion won. It was reported that no embezzlement occurred in 2024 because the employee was not responsible for related duties.
According to the club, the employee embezzled public funds by manipulating account balances through document forgery and false data. While the act of embezzlement itself was problematic, it was even more concerning that no internal control systems functioned during this process. It is particularly serious that the fact of embezzlement from three years ago has only now been confirmed, and that the amount of embezzlement has grown larger with each passing year. Moreover, Kimpo FC is a civic club operated with public tax money.
Kimpo Mayor Lee Ki-hyeong stated, "According to recent reports, I learned that the embezzlement was not limited to this year," and pointed out, "The newly identified amount is around 2.8 billion won. Even excluding 2024 from 2023 to this year, the embezzlement amount is beyond estimation." The auditor replied, "This is the result of an investigation into the employee who worked in 2023 and 2025. There was no relevant case in 2024 because the person in charge changed. The total embezzlement amount exceeds 8 billion won."
In response, Mayor Lee Ki-hyeong strongly criticized, "There is no need to manage or supervise other matters. We must manage and supervise institutional investors who have invested or contributed funds. You cannot just look at accounting reports. With holes like this appearing now, wasn't the embezzlement happening since 2023? This is not a matter of 10 million to 20 million won. Because they got away with embezzling in 2023, they did it again in 2025. And because that went unnoticed, this year they embezzled half of the club's entire budget for the first half. What did the city do to allow this? I do not believe this is a problem unique to Kimpo FC." The Kimpo FC embezzlement case is a scandal that occurred during the eighth term of local government and was revealed immediately after the ninth term began on the 1st of this month.
Mayor Lee Ki-hyeong said, "People ask me, 'What will you do about (Kimpo) FC?' With the current situation, there is no answer. We must save it somehow for the fans. However, embezzlement has continued since 2023 without any internal controls, and leaving it as is is itself a problem." He emphasized, "Citizens will inevitably blame the city hall. Maintaining (Kimpo) FC will inevitably require massive budgets. The amount embezzled from citizens' tax money must be fully covered."
An official from Kimpo City Hall's Sports Division who attended the report meeting that day stated, "Due to the recent public fund embezzlement case by an office staff member at Kimpo FC, the club's finances and external trust are in more difficult circumstances than ever before." He added, "Based on the results of the ongoing special investigation by the city and the police investigation into institutional investors, we will prioritize recovering damages, reforming accounting systems, and strengthening internal controls as our top immediate tasks."
He continued, "We will seek ways to normalize club operations in order to restore the trust of fans and citizens and establish a transparent financial foundation. After transforming into a proper civic club, we will pursue administrative and financial support for promotion to K League 1."
Meanwhile, this public fund embezzlement case by Kimpo FC staff was revealed through an emergency press conference held by Kimpo Mayor Lee Ki-hyeong on the 15th. The day before the press conference, it was confirmed that an employee had embezzled over 5.8 billion won of public funds, leading to a report filed with the police and notification to the city. Kimpo City announced that it will definitely recover the embezzled public funds, thoroughly hold relevant parties accountable under both civil and criminal law, and conduct a special audit on all invested or contributed institutional investors, including Kimpo FC.
In response, the Kimpo FC club stated, "All employees are taking this matter very seriously and feel heavy responsibility. We will focus on the prompt recovery of the embezzled amount and actively cooperate with investigations and audits by higher-level institutional investors. Additionally, we will do our utmost to educate and manage all members to ensure such incidents never happen again," offering an apology. Supporters group Golden Crew warned, "We cannot contain our despair and anger. We will watch the investigation and follow-up measures for this incident until the end."
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*This content was translated by AI.
