A building owner who carried out a large-scale jeonse fraud worth about 16 billion won targeting college students and entry-level workers around the university district in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, was sentenced in the first trial to 12 years in prison.
The Criminal Agreement Division 13 of the Seoul Northern District Court (Presiding Judge Na Sang-hun) on the 27th sentenced a person surnamed Kim in his 50s, who was indicted on charges including forging private documents, to 12 years in prison and a fine of 1 million won. Earlier, at the sentencing hearing, prosecutors sought 15 years in prison for Kim.
Kim's older sister, who was also put on trial on charges of aiding Kim's crimes, was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for three years.
Kim is accused of running a rental business around the university district in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, where Kyunghee University and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies are located, and taking 16.2765 billion won in jeonse deposits from 154 victims.
In the process, Kim is also accused of forging 139 lease contracts and borrowing 2.04 billion won from the Korean Federation of Community Credit Cooperatives (KFCC). The court found that the rental business continued through so-called "borrowing from Peter to pay Paul," repaying existing real estate-related debt with additional loans or newly received jeonse deposits.
The court said, "A significant number of the victims are college students and entry-level workers, and they appear to be suffering not only economic loss but also mental distress," adding, "The victims have submitted petitions to the court several times asking for a heavy punishment."
The court added, "The defendant has consistently offered excuses and denies the crimes, and a substantial portion of the damage has not been remedied."
It was found that Kim's older sister, despite knowing Kim's finances were poor, lent her name to obtain loans or enter into real estate contracts. The court determined that through this, she helped commit crimes that took 1.52 billion won from 12 victims.