Mid-term Ministry Accuses 7 Onnuri Gift Certificates of Illegal Distribution Affiliates in Daegu

Seven franchisees and three illegal brokers who illegally distributed Onnuri gift certificates at a traditional market in Daegu have been accused by the police.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said it has found seven illegal distributions after conducting a full survey of 15 stores with sales of Onnuri gift certificates worth more than 500 million won.

These stores are accused of receiving subsidies in fraudulent ways or obstructing the business of the Small Business Market Promotion Corporation through false transactions in the process of purchasing and exchanging Onnuri gift certificates.

During the parliamentary audit earlier, Rep. Jang Chul-min of the Democratic Party of Korea pointed out that the first to third-largest merchants of Onnuri gift certificates were all vegetable stores in Daegu, and two out of three were ghost companies.

It also said that the stores made a transaction that did not actually take place and exchanged an average of 19.2 billion won worth of Onnuri gift certificates for cash every month.