Corruption claim hits Korean GP
Having beaten crippling delays and managed to stage its inaugural F1 race at the eleventh hour, the Korea Auto Valley Operation [KAVO] faces another, potentially more serious, headache after being accused of financial irregularities.
According to asiaone.com, the organisers of F1's latest calendar addition is being investigated by the Board of Audit and Inspection amid suggestions that it 'misused' 60 billion won it was handed in order to ensure that the Korea International Circuit was completed on time for the race last month.
Although the initial cost of construction was estimated at 340 billion won, extra financial input was required to complete the project, pushing the final cost to around 400 billion won, but there are now calls for an investigation into the reasons for the various delays, the need for extra funds and for KAVO's shareholder structure to be examined after it was suggested that the extra funds were not used for their original purpose.
The Board of Audit and Inspection has yet to confirm the reason for its involvement, but is reported to have begun collecting information regarding both KAVO and other organisations related to it as soon as the race weekend was over, and has spoken to the South Jeolla provincial government as part of its investigations.
