S.Korean Scientist Left Accounting Holes: Audit

By Jack Kim

SEOUL — A disgraced South Korean scientist left accounting holes in his use of state funds, an audit board said in a report on Monday, adding the board would inform prosecutors who are looking into possible criminal fraud.

Prosecutors are investigating a team led by Hwang Woo-suk on suspicion of fraudulent use of state funds, which is punishable by up to 10 years in jail. Local media said the audit board’s findings would play a key role in the prosecution probe.

Hwang’s team intentionally fabricated data in two landmark studies on human embryonic stem cells, a Seoul National University investigation panel said last month. Hwang resigned from the university in December.

The papers — a 2004 report on cloning human embryos for research and a 2005 report on producing tailored embryonic stem cells — have been debunked. The U.S. periodical Science which published them said they would be retracted.

The Board of Audit and Inspection passed no judgment on any criminal wrongdoing by any individuals but said in its report that a number of people had failed to act properly.

"Professor Hwang failed to keep accounting of funds according to regulations, and the Science Ministry and Seoul National University did not supervise or manage him appropriately," the audit board said in the report.

It cited several incidents where it could not fully account for how Hwang spent funding provided to his team.

Hwang personally managed 6.2 billion won ($6.4 million) in state and private grants for his research. In one case, he deposited money set aside for junior researchers’ salaries into his personal bank accounts and failed to account for its use.

"There are no supporting documents for the use of this money," it said.

He also spent 3.3 billion won in corporate contributions for unidentified purposes without reporting the donations to the university as required by regulations, it said.

More than 1.8 billion won from private contributions was deposited into his personal accounts, and Hwang drew from the accounts for non-research purposes, it said.

"The money was used for purposes that are not clear, but were outside of research purposes," it said.

The audit board will start a more thorough audit into the financing surrounding Hwang’s research from February 13, it said.

Hwang’s team received 52.7 billion won ($54.33 million) in pledges of support from government and private grants since 1993. Of that amount, 37 billion was paid to Hwang’s team and the university, it said.

Prosecutors are also investigating Hwang’s team for a possible criminal violation of South Korea’s bioethics law over purchases of human ova for their research as well as Hwang’s claim that he was the victim of a conspiracy to discredit him.

Hwang said in January he suspected researchers at a fertility clinic that collaborated on his work of manipulating data for the debunked papers.

A media report said on Monday Hwang was probably unaware his team had failed to make tailored stem cells as it reported in a May 2005 paper published in the periodical Science.

There is evidence Hwang undertook activities he probably would not have engaged in last year had he not believed in the existence of the tailor-made stem cells, the Dong-A Ilbo newspaper said quoting an unnamed prosecution official.

Prosecutors were unavailable for comment on the report.

Hwang’s research had raised hopes because it seemed to hasten the day when genetically-specific tissue could be grown from embryonic stem cells to repair damaged organs or treat diseases such as Parkinson’s.

($1=969.9 Won)

(With additional reporting by Lee Jin-joo)