Suspicion of Purchasing Hotel Site with Salt Farm Worker Accommodation Budget

Stavianum, a private consignment company for the Sinan-gun Salt Farm Worker Relief Accommodation Project, received a total of 2.73 billion won in subsidies incrementally, even before the project's detailed design was completed. It was confirmed that a large sum was paid as an advance payment while the project's progress was 0%, contrary to normal subsidy execution procedures.

Normally, subsidies are paid after verifying the completion rate and going through a guarantee insurance process, but these steps were omitted in this project. Furthermore, the balance in the subsidy account was found to be virtually zero, raising questions about the transparency of fund usage.

In the Salt Farm Worker Relief Accommodation Project, the possibility of organized embezzlement collusion between the local government and a private company has been raised. It is alleged that public officials may have acted as co-conspirators, dividing roles to complete the administrative crime.

The local government's oversight was negligent while project funds were diverted for purposes other than their original intent, leading to criticism that it abetted the embezzlement.

It is alleged that the 2.7 billion won in public funds provided to the private company and the lax oversight were deliberate connivance by then-Mayor Park Woo-rang for his re-election. Even though these funds were used for purposes other than the project, particularly for the purchase of a hotel site, the county office's verification process was not properly carried out.

It was also claimed that then-Party Chairman Jeong Cheong-rae's emergency disciplinary action and cut-off measure was an attempt to protect then-Mayor Park Woo-rang. This was allegedly to cover up the situation where 2.7 billion won in public funds was being used improperly.

Ultimately, criticism was raised that the large-scale public fund support for the private company and inadequate oversight were linked to then-Mayor Park Woo-rang's political interests.

When Sinan-gun demanded proof of the subsidy account balance, Stavianum submitted a response document admitting to the diversion of funds. The response stated that the 2.73 billion won in project funds for the Salt Farm Worker Relief Accommodation Project was used not only for relief accommodation but also for the purchase of land for a tourist hotel, a single-family housing complex, and access roads.

In particular, Stavianum claimed that it had received approval from Sinan-gun for the use of these subsidies, which has become controversial as it is an illogical claim that deviates significantly from the project's original purpose.

Stavianum and Won Architecture are suspected of being effectively family businesses of then-Mayor Park Woo-rang's side. In particular, it was alleged that Park Woo-deok, then-Mayor Park Woo-rang's brother, was deeply involved in the related companies.

When reporters directly visited the offices of these companies, the offices were empty, and signs of closure were confirmed. This appears to be a move by the related companies to wind down their businesses after the controversy erupted, raising concerns that it could make uncovering the truth even more difficult.

These signs of closure are leading to criticism that the possibility of destroying evidence related to the subsidy embezzlement allegations cannot be ruled out.