The so-called "construction king," who was indicted in five trials for rental fraud, was sentenced to a heavy prison term in the first trial of the third indictment.
Judge Kim Eun-hye of the Incheon District Court sentenced Mr. Nam (63) to seven years in prison at the sentencing hearing on the 18th.
The court sentenced eight of the 28 accomplices, including real estate agents and brokerage assistants, who were indicted on the same charges to suspended sentences, while one was fined 5 million won.
The remaining 19 were found not guilty.
Judge Kim stated, "Defendant Nam executed lease contracts in the name of others and managed real estate without his own capital by receiving the (rental) deposit and rolling over the debt," and added, "Considering the nature and method of the crime, the culpability is very heavy."
He also noted, "Some of the victims recovered their losses through auctions, but most did not," and assessed that "the remaining defendants participated in the crime organizationally despite knowing about Mr. Nam's cash flow difficulties."
However, he clarified that "the fact that (some) defendants were acquitted does not mean there was no wrongdoing," explaining, "While they were involved in the crime, it was difficult to recognize the intent to defraud, thus they were acquitted."
During the sentencing hearing, the prosecution requested a 15-year prison sentence and the confiscation of 8.295 billion won in criminal revenue from Mr. Nam, and sought prison terms of 2 to 10 years for the 28 accomplices.
Mr. Nam and others were indicted on charges of embezzling 8.3 billion won in rental deposits from 102 tenants of villas and small apartments in Incheon.
The total amount of rental fraud charges against Mr. Nam's group, who were indicted five times, is 58.9 billion won (820 victims), but this trial only dealt with the 8.3 billion won fraud charge from the third indictment.
Mr. Nam was first indicted on charges of rental fraud amounting to 14.8 billion won (191 victims) and received a confirmed sentence of seven years in prison from the Supreme Court in January.
He was sentenced to 15 years in prison in the first trial regarding another fraud charge of 30.5 billion won (372 victims) in February, and the appeal trial is currently ongoing.
Additionally, Mr. Nam and others were indicted separately for rental fraud charges of 2.8 billion won (78 victims) and 2.4 billion won (77 victims), with those trials currently in progress at the Incheon District Court.
Mr. Nam was known as the construction king, owning 2,700 dwellings such as apartments and officetels in the Incheon and Gyeonggi areas, and four victims who were unable to recover their rental deposits from Mr. Nam's group made extreme choices between February and May of 2023.