"Redness? Untraceable" Secret of Garlic Store, which has 6.3 Billion KRW in Monthly Sales

YTN Radio (FM 94.5) [YTN News FM Wise Radio Life]
□ Broadcast Date: October 28, 2024 (Mon.)
□ Host: Announcer Park Gui-bin
□ Castor: Lee Hong-ju, Professor of Consumer Economics at Sookmyung Women's University

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information.

◆ Announcer Park Gui-bin (hereinafter referred to as Park Gui-bin): Recently, suspicious sales of a garlic shop have been on the cutting board of the government audit. The sales of a small garlic shop, which is about 10 meters wide, totaled 50.4 billion won in the first eight months of this year. 6.3 billion won in monthly terms. All of these sales are from Onnuri gift certificates. It is also a sales made only by dealing with tributary types. I wonder if this is possible. That's why they're raising suspicions that it was illegally distributed. Let's talk in detail with the relevant content experts. I'm calling Professor Lee Hong-joo of Sookmyung Women's University's Consumer Economics Department. Hello, professor.

◇ Lee Hong-ju, professor of consumer economics at Sookmyung Women's University (hereinafter referred to as Lee Hong-ju): Yes, hello.

◆Park Gui-bin: First of all, the monthly sales of this garlic store were KRW 6.3 billion. Professor, how do you see this?

◇Lee Hong-joo: We can judge that the sales volume is quite unrealistic. Even Sungsimdang, a famous bakery in Daejeon, has monthly sales of Onnuri gift certificates of about 300 million won. It is difficult for me to understand in common sense that a much smaller garlic store made 6.3 billion won in sales a month. So I think there is enough circumstance for these gift certificates to be seen as some fraudulent case of gift certificates.

◆Park Gui-bin: Yes, the Seongsimdang headquarters in Daejeon you mentioned earlier made about 300 million won in Onnuri gift certificates a month, but this is... They say it's a combination of all branches of mobile cards.

◇ Lee Hong-ju: Yes, that's right.

◆Park Gui-bin: But this garlic store is worth 6.3 billion won a month with paper gift certificates only. But I heard it's not just the garlic store's sales that are suspicious. There's something more connected.

◇ Lee Hong-ju: Yes, that's right. It is surprising that all the franchisees that ranked 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in Onnuri gift certificate sales in the country are located in traditional markets in Daegu. According to the survey, the No. 1 store has an average monthly sales of about 7.4 billion won, and the No. 2 store is the aforementioned garlic store, with monthly sales of about 6.3 billion won. And the third-largest store has monthly sales of about 5.5 billion won. But what's unique here is that there's only one garlic store that's been identified. So the vegetable stores that ranked first and third were not able to check the actual stores when they visited the site.

◆Park Gui-bin: And it was reported that the CEO was a family member.

◇ Lee Hong-ju: Yes, that's right. So I think these parts are a bit of an abnormal transaction. And the abnormal sales figures I mentioned earlier appeared not only in garlic stores but also in two vegetable stores in the same market, and considering that the three stores are involved in family relationships, it is true that there is a suspicion of cheating. In fact, it is true that the Onnuri gift certificate system was introduced for the purpose of revitalizing the traditional market and supporting the local economy. Considering the fact that certain stores have recorded very high sales and used only family operations and paper gift certificates, I think there is a high possibility of fraudulent transactions. Therefore, I think that it is essential to review the management system and improve the system for this suspicious situation.

◆Park Gui-bin: Then, you said that you suspected it was a fraudulent case, what kind of fraudulent case are you suspicious of? How did you do the Onnuri gift card?

◇Lee Hong-ju: So, the maximum purchase price per person for Onnuri gift certificates is limited to about 2 million won.

◆Park Gui-bin: There is a personal limit.

◇ Lee Hong-ju: That's right. But now you can get a 10% discount if you purchase an Onnuri gift certificate. So, for example, if you buy a 2 million won Onnuri gift certificate, you can buy it for 1.8 million won and then exchange 2 million won again. But you can buy this in large quantities through other fraudulent methods, and you can buy it in large quantities through ways that you can buy more than you can buy. So if you buy in large quantities like this, you can get a 10% discount on the final purchase, so you're negatively receiving the revenue generated from it. I think these parts need to be improved because they can break the market economy order.

◆Park Gui-bin: In the case of franchisees, when they receive gift certificates, they receive gift certificates from customers and sell products, and then they go to the bank to check whether they are registered as a franchisee and convert them into cash.

◇ Lee Hong-ju: That's right.

◆Park Gwi-bin: Then are these 3 companies not able to exchange money right now? How are the measures being taken now?

◇Lee Hong-ju: According to the Small Business Corporation, Onnuri gift certificates are currently conducting a full survey of the top 15 merchants who recorded more than 500 million won in monthly sales. So, especially for the three companies in question this time, the Corporation has quickly suspended currency exchange. The measure is intended to thoroughly confirm the possibility of fraudulent use of Onnuri gift certificates for suspected high-value merchants, and additional legal action may follow depending on the results of the investigation.

◆Park Gui-bin: But I think there have been cases where Onnuri gift cards have been abused for a long time. There were also cases where it was abused as a so-called cash can. Is it a little different this time?

◇ Lee Hong-ju: As you said, the so-called Onnuri Gank's problem of illegal use of Onnuri gift certificates has been repeated for a long time. So, this case can be seen as a different level than before, especially in that the size of sales is out of common sense and organizational movements have been detected. Given the fact that top-selling Onnuri gift certificates are concentrated in one market and family connections have been found, and that they only handle paper gift certificates that are difficult to track, I think it is reasonable to doubt whether there is another problem beyond simple hoarding or illegal use of gift certificates for profit purposes. So it seems hard to rule out the possibility that any particular organization or any particular organization has been misused as a circulation of illicit funds linked to it or as a monetization route through gift certificates. Therefore, since this issue is likely to completely undermine the policy purpose of revitalizing the traditional market, it is necessary to consider improving structural management to prevent fraudulent use along with a more thorough thorough investigation.

◆Park Gui-bin: In the meantime, individuals who are now abused as cash can have done that. After purchasing a gift certificate, collect interest and exchange it for cash. This has been the method of Onnuri-kang today. But now, you mean that it can be seen as an organized crime.

◇ Lee Hong-joo: Because the scale and the amount are quite large, it's hard to define them all as organized crimes, but we can assume that this could be abused as a circulation of illegal funds or as a cash-in-place route through gift certificates.

◆Park Gui-bin: In the case of Onnuri gift certificates, they are issued by the government. And don't you give discounts with national taxes? It was introduced with a very good purpose of revitalizing the traditional market, so why does this happen? Which part is vulnerable?

◇Lee Hong-ju: As you said, the Onnuri gift certificate was originally introduced for the good purpose of revitalizing the traditional market and the local economy. However, the situation has changed slightly during this special Chuseok period when the discount rate for tributary so-called paper gift certificates was set at 10%. For example, as I told you earlier, 100,000 won gift certificates can be purchased for 90,000 won, so there is a long line to buy gift certificates at every bank window, and they are sold out less than an hour after sales start. In addition, as the maximum purchase limit per person was expanded to 2 million won, many people bought gift certificates up to this limit. However, the problem is that if some merchants buy gift certificates directly to increase sales and exchange them, so-called Onnuri-gang is generated. For example, if a merchant purchases a gift certificate worth 2 million won for 1.8 million won, raises sales, and gets a refund, he or she will earn 200,000 won. So I can tell you that there is a high possibility that gift certificates will be used illegally because of some of these loopholes.

◆Park Gui-bin: Is it a tributary type, so only paper gift certificates are abused like that?

◇ Lee Hong-ju: Yes, that's right. Onnuri gift certificates made of tributary type gift certificates paper are almost impossible to trace. So, in the case of mobile or card-type gift certificates, transaction details are recorded digitally so that you can determine where and how much you use them, but paper-type tributary gift certificates are difficult to accurately track where they are used once they are distributed. Therefore, because of these characteristics, tributary gift certificates are inevitably more vulnerable to fraudulent use such as Onnuri-gang.

◆Park Gui-bin: Then if we get rid of paper gift certificates, will this fraudulent case be eliminated?

◇Lee Hong-ju: I think it can be reduced and reduced more than now.

◆Park Gui-bin: By the way, if you remove paper gift cards and use them only in the form of mobile or card, will there be any people who feel uncomfortable using it? among consumers

◇Lee Hong-ju: I think there may be some inconveniences or difficulties for those who use it due to the nature of traditional markets. However, more than that, some side effects or harmful effects that occur when using paper gift certificates are greater, so I think we should gradually move on to the form of mobile gift certificates.

◆Park Gui-bin: I see. I think the system needs to be improved, and if illegal distribution transactions are caught like this, shouldn't any punishment or fines be strong after that? How is it going now?

◇ Lee Hong-ju: Yes, that's right. Under the current law, if you are caught illegally distributing Onnuri gift certificates, you will be subject to various administrative measures. Therefore, under the Special Act for the Promotion of Traditional Markets and Shopping Districts and the Act on the Regulation of Violations of Order, you can be fined up to 20 million won. And the level of punishment gradually increases depending on the number of detections, with a fine of 2.5 million won once caught for illegal distribution, 5 million won for twice, and 7.5 million won for three times. So, if these problems continue to occur, additional sanctions such as cancellation of affiliates or suspension of support may be possible, and criminal charges may be filed if the illegal distribution is large or the amount of fraudulent exchange is large. However, since criminal sanctions themselves have not been explicitly defined, they are still often limited to fines and administrative measures.

◆Park Gui-bin: Then I think we need to be a little more powerful.

◇ Lee Hong-ju: Regulations on this need to be strong to improve illegal activities or problems. However, considering the realistic situation, I think that strong legal sanctions to solve a problem in the traditional market may cause inconvenience to merchants in the traditional market and cause some backlash.

◆Park Gui-bin: If you look at cases of illegal distribution like Onnuri-gang mentioned earlier, there are cases of illegal distribution through transactions between market merchants, so I think you're talking about that part. If you look at it, this government has announced that it will strengthen efforts to prevent illegal distribution, and what's important is that there is a monitoring system. But isn't it working properly?

◇ Lee Hong-ju: Yes, that's right. As you just said, there is an abnormal financial transaction detection system. That's why we often call it FDS. FDS is a system originally created in the financial sector to detect fraudulent and abnormal transactions in real time. So, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups introduced it to prevent the illegal distribution of Onnuri gift certificates. However, if you look at the case of fraudulent distribution this time, it can be seen that FDS did not work sufficiently according to the characteristics of gift certificate transactions. In particular, the case in question was unconventional, with 6.3 billion won in gift certificate sales per month in one store, so FDS should have detected such abnormal transactions in real time. However, in the case of Onnuri gift certificates, there are still many tributary gift certificates in circulation, so it is difficult to track digitally in the case of tributary gift certificates, so I think there is a limit to FDS' detection. Therefore, in the end, it is difficult to completely prevent the illegal use of paper gift certificates only with FDS, so fundamental measures to reduce the issuance of paper gift certificates and expand digital transformation are needed together.

◆Park Gui-bin: I see. The monitoring system you mentioned is a system that detects fraudulent distribution in real time, but I think it will be difficult if it goes all over with paper. The listener said, 'You must be punished because your monthly sales are 6.3 billion won in small garlic stores. Your family has monopolized Onnuri, which is trying to save the region. ’ They're giving us opinions like this. Finally, the government plans to increase the issuance of Onnuri gift certificates to 5.5 trillion won next year. So, we need to make use of this good purpose and create an environment where it can be distributed properly. What measures do you think are needed?

◇Lee Hong-ju: In short, as the issuance of Onnuri gift certificates has increased significantly, we need to think about some important directions to prevent illegal distribution while fully utilizing the purpose. First, we need to think about digital transformation and real-time management systems. And secondly, I think it is necessary to strengthen the regulation and inspection of merchants and places of use. And finally, I think we need education and campaigns for merchants and consumers. As a result, I believe that the Onnuri gift certificate will truly become a tool to revive the traditional market and the local economy only when a comprehensive management plan is prepared that combines the digital transformation of gift certificates, a thorough management system, and educational campaigns.

◆Park Gwibin: I see. This has been Professor Lee Hong-joo from Sookmyung Women's University's Consumer Economics Department. Thank you.

◇Lee Hong-ju: Yes, thank you.