Customs officials indicted for swapping seized wine for cash

Two South Korean customs officials have been arrested and indicted for allegedly orchestrating a scheme to swap high-value seized wines with counterfeit bottles, intending to sell the originals. The officials, a former head of the Seoul Customs intelligence team and a former chief planning officer, are accused of accepting bribes and attempting to defraud the state.

According to the prosecution, in August 2023, the officials approached a wine importer with a proposal. They offered to replace 379 bottles of seized smuggled wine with 'dummy bottles' intended for display, allowing the importer to resell the genuine articles. For this service, they allegedly received 30 million won (approximately $21,500 USD), purportedly to bribe the customs warehouse manager. The market value of the wines they intended to smuggle out was estimated at 500 million won (approximately $358,000 USD), with the most expensive bottle valued at 36 million won ($25,800 USD).

However, their plan was significantly curtailed when a prosecutor intervened, instructing that only 16 bottles, whose statute of limitations had expired, should be considered for exchange. Following this setback, one of the former officials allegedly demanded an additional 40 million won ($28,700 USD) from the wine importer, promising to help them receive a larger reward for smuggling tips. This demand, however, led to the wine importer reporting the officials, resulting in their apprehension.

An official from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office stated that the case was uncovered due to the prosecutor's authority over the disposal of seized items and the supervision of special judicial police. The investigation revealed the extent of the alleged corruption within the customs service.

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It was a case that could be uncovered because of the prosecutor's authority over the disposal of seized items and the authority to direct and supervise special judicial police.