A person in their 50s who fled overseas after withholding more than 1.6 billion won in jeonse deposits was caught and handed over to prosecutors.
The Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency said on the 15th that it arrested and referred building owner A, in his 50s, on fraud charges for swindling 1.66 billion won in deposits from 17 tenants of multi-family housing.
A is accused of buying two multi-family houses in Jung-gu, Daejeon, using the so-called "gap investment" method, signing jeonse contracts worth 1.66 billion won with 17 tenants in their 20s to 40s starting in 2022, and then failing to return the deposits.
A is known to have deceived tenants by saying, "This is not a home with another jeonse contract or a mortgage lien," exploiting the fact that seniority deposits for multi-family housing are not immediately viewable.
Unable to return the rental deposits, A left for Thailand in Dec. 2023 and was on the run for more than two years. A was then arrested by local police in Pattaya, Thailand, after presenting a canceled passport at a local hotel and was forcibly repatriated.
In Mar. 2024, after tenants filed complaints, police launched an investigation, requested a red notice from the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) — an international wanted notice issued for suspects with arrest warrants — and conducted a domestic investigation targeting victimized tenants.