EV charging firm executives indicted for misusing billions in government subsidies

By Jung Joo-won, The Herald Business

The CEO and other executives of an electric vehicle charging station installer have been indicted for diverting billions of won in government subsidies — received to fund charging station construction — to repay company loans and cover operating expenses.

The Seoul Northern District Prosecutors' Office's joint investigation unit on national fiscal crimes announced Sunday that it had indicted without detention the company's CEO, identified as B, its chief financial officer, identified as C, and the corporate entity, identified as Company A, on charges of aggravated embezzlement under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes and violations of the Subsidy Management Act.

According to prosecutors, the defendants are accused of misappropriating about 8.4 billion won of the 24.4 billion won ($15.8 million) in EV charging station installation subsidies they received in 2023 from the Korea Environment Corporation under a regional zero-emission vehicle transition brand project, spending the funds on purposes unrelated to the project.

Investigators found that between July and September 2023, the defendants used subsidy funds on two separate occasions to repay 6.5 billion won in existing company loans. They also made a total of 1,333 transactions between July and November of that year, spending about 1.9 billion won on loan interest, taxes, fines, insurance premiums and even congratulatory and condolence gifts.

Under the terms of the subsidy agreement, the funds were to be used exclusively for purchasing EV chargers and paying installation service fees, and the company was required to spend its own funds first. Prosecutors believe the defendants applied for the subsidy program without adequately assessing whether charging station installation was feasible or whether electrical connections could be made, then effectively treated the subsidies as general operating funds.

Prosecutors said the defendants also failed to promptly return subsidies for portions of the project they did not carry out, instead spending those funds on other purposes. The company had returned only 6.6 billion won by September 2025, and an additional 5.9 billion won was returned only after the investigation began.

The case was referred to prosecutors by the government's joint anti-corruption task force under the Office for Government Policy Coordination, which prompted a direct investigation. Over several months, prosecutors traced the flow of funds and mapped out the alleged scheme through account analysis, office searches and seizures, digital forensics, tracking of 66 bank accounts and interviews with related parties.

"Strictly restricted government subsidies were treated like the company's own slush fund, causing losses of billions of won to the national treasury," a Seoul Northern District Prosecutors' Office official said. "We will continue to respond firmly, in accordance with the law and principles, to those who misappropriate or defraud public funds."