Fake applicants caught in large numbers aiming for apartment wins by increasing family size with sham marriages and forged pregnancy certificates

Busan Police Agency Arrests Man in His 50s for Fake Marriage with Stranger Woman to Win Apartment Lottery
54 Participants Including Him Sent to Prosecution for Forging Pregnancy Certificates to Increase Dependent Family Points

Busan Metropolitan Police Agency.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] A large number of people who engaged in sham marriages or even forged pregnancy certificates to apply for a high-end apartment in Haeundae, Busan, have been arrested by the police.

The Intelligent Crime Investigation Unit of the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency arrested a man in his 50s, Mr. A, on charges of increasing his application score by entering into a sham marriage with a woman he did not know who had four children, in order to win the lottery for an apartment in Marine City, Haeundae-gu.

Additionally, 54 people who either won the lottery through fraudulent means by forging pregnancy certificates to increase their application scores or were involved in the scheme were arrested and referred to the prosecution with indictments.

The police began the investigation in November last year after receiving a request from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport regarding suspected fraudulent winning cases for this apartment.

According to the police, on April 16, 2016, Mr. A conspired with a broker to increase his dependent family points in the apartment lottery by agreeing to pay 7.5 million won to Ms. B (female, in her 40s), whom he did not know, and entered into a sham marriage.

The number of family members, which was two including Mr. A and one child, jumped significantly with the addition of Ms. B’s family. With the ‘fake wife’ Ms. B and her four children, the total family size quickly increased to six.

Mr. A eventually won the apartment lottery and reportedly made a large profit by transferring the sale rights at a premium.

The police also uncovered four cases where pregnancy certificates were forged to apply for special supply for multi-child families.

Fake documents were created to appear as if the applicants were pregnant, and in some cases, it was even fabricated that they were expecting twins to qualify for special supply.

Furthermore, the police detected seven cases where subscription savings accounts were transferred for amounts ranging from 2 million to 10 million won per account, or where resident registration certificates or family relation certificates were forged.

The police stated that about 40 people who won the lottery through fraudulent means currently do not reside in the apartments. It is believed they made illegal profits by selling the sale rights at a premium.

Considering that the premium for this apartment was around 150 million won, the total estimated illegal profits these individuals gained amount to approximately 6 billion won.

The police are tracking down the brokers who planned the crimes. A police official said, “Brokers mainly target people with difficult economic circumstances, encouraging them to lend their names or even enter into sham marriages to increase the chances of winning the lottery, leading the crimes.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.