YOON MEE-HYANG INDICTED OVER FRAUD & EMBEZZLEMENT

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Prosecutors have announced the results of their probe into allegations surrounding a civic group supporting Korean victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery. One of the organization's former directors is facing six charges including fraud and embezzlement, which she has completely denied.

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​​Democratic Party lawmaker Yoon Mee-hyang denied she misappropriated any donations for personal reasons when she ran the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery.

[Soundbite] REP. YOON MEE-HYANG(DEMOCRATIC PARTY(MAY 2020)) : "The fact that the funds were raised through my personal account doesn't mean I used them for personal reasons."

But prosecutors have found otherwise. Their investigation claims Yoon received 330 million won in donations via her private bank account and embezzled around 57 million won from the donated amount. Prosecutors say she has used some 100 million won for personal use. Part of the amount was withdrawn from corporate bank accounts without any legal grounds. They also accused Yoon of receiving state subsidies illegally. Prosecutors say she illegally received 360 million won from the central and Seoul city governments on the pretext of running museums without curators or paying wages to their staff. Prosecutors also charged Yoon with quasi-fraud, claiming she made surviving victim Kil Won-ok donate more than 80 million won by exploiting Kil's dementia. Prosecutors have handed Yoon's case to the court after applying six charges against her. They accused her of violating the Act on Collection and Use of Donations by accepting 4.1 billion won in donations without reporting them to the local government, and a breach of duty for purchasing a shelter for so-called "comfort women" in the city of Anseong for a price higher than its market value. However, they dropped the allegation that Yoon filed a false tax report on subsidies received by the civic group, and the accusation that she embezzled council funds to pay her child's overseas tuition. Yoon has denied that she misused any funds for personal reasons and vowed to prove her innocence in court.