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This image, provided by an office of the Office of Government Policy Coordination under the prime minister, shows solar panels. Yonhap

A newly established prosecution unit on fiscal crimes will take over the investigation into allegations of corruption involving a government-funded solar panel project launched under the previous administration to enhance renewable energy generation, sources said Thursday.

The move follows findings by an office under the prime minister last month that identified 2,267 cases of irregularities in the spending of government funds set aside under the previous Moon Jae-in administration to promote the installation of solar panels.

The office found that such irregularities led to the misappropriation of about 261.6 billion won ($183.2 million) of the funds, and has since requested the Supreme Prosecutors Office look into 1,265 of the cases on suspicions of illegally pocketing subsidies or loans out of the public purse.

Legal sources said the Supreme Prosecutors Office was to assign some of the requested cases to the fiscal crime investigation unit Thursday.

It marks the first investigation assigned to the fiscal crime investigation unit that began its operation at the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors Office last month to root out fiscal fraud, tax evasion and other crimes targeting state coffers. (Yonhap)