It was reported on the 4th that the main suspect, a person surnamed Kim, in the 'three mothers rental fraud' case, which defrauded 79.5 billion won in jeonse deposits from 355 villa tenants, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Earlier, Kim's two daughters were each sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison with a 3-year probation.
The Supreme Court's Second Division, presided over by Justice Oh Kyung-mi, confirmed the 15-year prison sentence for Kim, who was indicted on charges of fraud and violations of the Act on the Registration of Real Estate under the Actual Titleholder's Name at the end of March.
From 2017, Kim was indicted on charges of buying over 500 villas in the metropolitan area, including Gangseo and Gwanak districts in Seoul, in the names of his 30-something daughters with the jeonse deposits and defrauding the tenants' deposits. It was investigated that Kim colluded with new villa sales agents to recruit tenants in advance before purchasing the villas, receiving jeonse deposits at prices higher than the sales cost, and keeping part of it as a rebate. In this case, there were 355 victims, and the reported damage amounted to 79.5 billion won.
In the first trial, Kim received sentences of 10 years and 15 years in two separate trials.
In the appeals court, the two trials were merged. With reductions to 5 years and 10 years, a combined sentence of 15 years was imposed. The fact that a significant number of victims were able to recover their losses through guarantee contracts with the Korea Housing & Urban Guarantee Corporation (HUG) was a reason for the sentence reduction.
This time, the Supreme Court confirmed the 15-year sentence for Kim, ruling in the same manner as the appeals court.