A group that illegally resold a high-priced apartment allocation right by exploiting the special supply program for multiple-child families has been turned over to prosecutors. After the resale restriction period ended and the apartment's price jumped by hundreds of millions of won, they filed complaints against one another over how to divide additional revenue, which led investigators to catch them.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government's Bureau of Livelihood Judicial Police said on the 12th that on the 4th it sent five members of the group to prosecutors on charges including illegal applications and illegal resale during the apartment subscription process, in violation of the Housing Act.
According to the city, A, who has three children, met subscription broker C through a referral from B and, in exchange for handing over a digital certificate and password, received tens of millions of won and took part in the special supply subscription for multiple-child families. A then won a rare 42-pyeong type within the complex (exclusive 138.52 square meters; sale price 2.4 billion won). The competition ratio at the time was 303 to 1.
A later handed over to D all documents related to status and rights concerning the allocation-right sales contract through an introduction by C, and was found to have again received tens of millions of won in the process. D then passed the related documents to another accomplice, E, and had E even advance the down payment for the allocation contract, a method by which they sought to push ahead with illegal resale within the resale restriction period (one year).
Their illegal conduct surfaced when A demanded additional revenue. After the resale restriction period passed and the market price of the apartment rose sharply, creating a premium worth hundreds of millions of won, A demanded additional compensation from D and failed to carry out the promised name transfer.
D then filed a police complaint accusing A of fraud, and A, in a countermove, reported the illegal trading of a subscription savings account through Seoul City's online civil complaint portal. The two sides later reached a mutual agreement and each withdrew the complaint and the report in an attempt to quell the case, but the city, based on the complaint details, confirmed that five related individuals had engaged in illegal applications, illegal resale, and illegal brokering, and booked them all on criminal charges.
Under the current Housing Act, transferring or acquiring, or brokering the transfer or acquisition of, an occupancy savings certificate such as a subscription account, or illegally reselling or brokering an allocation right, is punishable by up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 30 million won. Those caught may also face restrictions on eligibility for occupancy for up to 10 years.
Byun Gyeong-ok, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Bureau of Livelihood Judicial Police, said, "This case is a grave act of disrupting order in the real estate market that harms housing-insecure ordinary people who have honestly accumulated subscription points," and added, "Our city will continue high-intensity investigations into not only illegal applications and illegal resale but all illegal real estate acts to establish a sound transaction order."
Meanwhile, the city is receiving reports of real estate crimes such as illegal applications, illegal resale, price collusion, and unregistered brokering in step with the recent rise in apartment prices. Whistleblowers who provide decisive evidence are being paid up to 200 million won in rewards.