A Namsung involved in a jeonse fraud scheme that bought four one-room multi-household houses through a "no-capital gap investment" method and swindled about 13.8 billion won from tenants received a suspended prison sentence in the first trial.
On the 21st, Judge Seo Young-woo of the Seoul Southern District Court Criminal Division 12 sentenced a person surnamed Kim, 30, indicted on fraud charges, to six months in prison, suspended for two years.
Kim was indicted on charges of participating in swindling a total of about 13.8 billion won, including 13.5 billion won in jeonse deposits and 300 million won in jeonse loans, after signing jeonse contracts with 155 tenants in the areas of Yeongdeungpo District, Geumcheon District, and Dongjak District in Seoul from Feb. 2017 to Oct. 2023.
They was found to have recruited tenants through the so-called "tin can jeonse" method, signing jeonse contracts with deposits higher than the value of the buildings and then using the deposits to cover the purchase price. After their finances deteriorated, they also allegedly obtained additional loans by putting forward fake tenants.
In the process, Kim, in collusion with accomplices, is accused of unlawfully receiving about 97 million won in loan proceeds by submitting false documents to financial institutions.
The court said it comprehensively considered factors including the amount of the illicit loan proceeds, the circumstances leading to the involvement in the crime, and sentencing balance with accomplices who have already been sentenced.
Earlier, the landlord identified as the ringleader in the case, person A, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in the first trial, and the sentence was finalized by the Supreme Court in Sep. last year.
Other participants, including the building owner and building manager indicted alongside Kim, were also sentenced to prison terms or suspended prison sentences in the first trial on the 1st of last month.