A couple who worked at a real estate brokerage was sentenced to a suspended prison term in the first trial for stealing more than 800 pieces of real estate listing information that the company managed as trade secrets. The court viewed the stolen listing information as "core trade secrets" in the real estate brokerage industry.
According to the legal community on the 20th, the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 15 (Director General Park Chan-beom) sentenced Mr. A, 30, and Ms. B to one year in prison with a two-year suspension and six months in prison with a two-year suspension, respectively, on charges of violating the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act during the first trial on the 14th.
Mr. A is accused of sending 881 pieces of real estate listing information, including photos, addresses, the owner's name, and contact information, to Ms. B after accessing the company's listing management program, which is blocked from external access, while employed at real estate brokerage C in September 2019. Three months later, Mr. A and Ms. B were found to have moved to competitor D with the stolen listing information.
Real estate brokerages earn money by receiving commissions when transactions for the properties they manage are successfully completed. Information about properties on which the owner intends to sell is their source of revenue and trade secrets. Therefore, Company C had implemented various security measures, such as preventing the use of removable storage devices (USBs) on computers where the listing management program was installed.
The court stated, "The information confirming the owner's intention to sell the property and the contact information of the owner are core information and trade secrets that Company C employees verified with time and effort" and noted, "Mr. A and Ms. B conspired despite knowing this fact to steal large amounts of listing information that Company C had obtained and moved to a competitor, which reflects very poor moral character."
After moving to Company D, Mr. A and Ms. B appeared several times on the company's YouTube channel, introducing themselves by saying, "We were able to reach the director position at a young age because our abilities were recognized." As of this day, the YouTube channel has about 110,000 subscribers.