Subcontractor Inflating Construction Costs on Gyeonggi Province Project to Receive Whistleblower Compensation of 14.27 Million Won

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hun] Gyeonggi Province has detected excessive cost reporting by a subcontractor that undertook a project commissioned by the province through public interest whistleblowing and has referred the companies to police for investigation on fraud charges.

The province has decided to pay compensation of 14.27 million won to the whistleblower.

The province announced on the 22nd that it held the third Gyeonggi Province Public Interest Whistleblower Support Committee meeting on the 8th and decided to pay a total of 33.98 million won, including 14.27 million won in compensation for one case and 19.71 million won in rewards for 12 cases.

Construction company A, which received a Gyeonggi Province project, subcontracted some work phases to construction company B. Company B reported cement quantities exceeding 442 tons, receiving intermediate payment based on progress claims (payment calculated and issued for the amount of work completed during construction).

After investigating a report submitted anonymously through the 'Gyeonggi Province Public Interest Whistleblower Hotline,' the province confirmed these facts and recovered 47.59 million won in cement material costs.

Gyeonggi Province suspected illegal re-subcontracting and embezzlement of construction costs by company B and referred the case to police with relevant evidence. Currently, employees of company B are being prosecuted on charges of violating the Framework Act on the Construction Industry and fraud.

Jang Seong-geun, chairperson of the Gyeonggi Province Public Interest Whistleblower Support Committee, evaluated the report, saying, "A construction company employee showed courage in making this report, and the credibility of the evidence materials is considerable. We judge this to be a report that greatly contributes to establishing a fair construction culture and preventing accidents caused by substandard construction."

Gyeonggi Province pays compensation when reports from internal whistleblowers result in recovery or increase of provincial fiscal revenue.

Compensation is paid at 30% of the recovered or increased fiscal revenue from the report, with no upper limit.

The province plans to pay 14.27 million won, which is 30% of the recovered construction cost of 47.59 million won, to the internal whistleblower in this case.

In addition, the province has decided to pay 19.71 million won in rewards for nine reports in the environmental pollution field and three reports threatening public safety.

Whistleblower C reported a construction site where construction waste was illegally stored on state-owned land along with photographs.

As a result of this report, violations of the 'Act on the Promotion of Recycling of Construction Waste' were detected, leading to administrative monetary surcharge of 25 million won and fines of 3 million won.

The committee plans to pay 8.1 million won in rewards to the whistleblower who contributed to the promotion of public interest, including soil pollution prevention.

Additionally, whistleblower D reported that a hazardous materials manufacturing facility used unauthorized foam fire suppression agent (a substance that extinguishes fire by generating foam to block air) while conducting an expansion project.

Whistleblower D will receive 3.92 million won in rewards for preventing fire and casualties at the hazardous materials manufacturing facility.

Furthermore, rewards totaling 6.91 million won will be paid to 10 people for ▲reports of violations of the Waste Management Act and the Act on the Promotion of Recycling of Construction Waste (3 people, 3.38 million won) ▲reports of violations of the Air Environment Conservation Act (4 people, 2.51 million won) ▲reports of violations of the Water Environment Conservation Act (1 person, 200,000 won) ▲reports of violations of the Framework Act on the Construction Industry (1 person, 1.5 million won).

Meanwhile, considering that citizens have difficulty making reports because they are unaware of specific reportable conduct, the province has developed case collections in the environmental and safety fields closely related to residents' daily lives.

The case collections can be viewed through the Gyeonggi Province Public Interest Whistleblower Hotline website (hotline.gg.go.kr) and the Gyeonggi Province e-book platform (ebook.gg.go.kr).