Possibility of Confiscating Real Estate Suspected of Speculation Opens... Police Investigation Targets High-Ranking Officials

Uijeongbu District Court Approves 'Seizure Preservation Application'
Property Confiscation Possible if Guilty Verdict Confirmed
Special Investigation Unit Probing 3 Active Lawmakers
Consideration of Serious Crime Investigation Division Deployment
Investigation Targets Expected to Expand Further

National Police Agency, National Investigation Headquarters. (Photo by National Police Agency)

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] Following the ‘Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) scandal,’ the court has approved the seizure preservation request for a Pocheon city official against whom an arrest warrant was first requested, raising the possibility of recovering real estate suspected of speculation. The police investigation is also expanding to include ‘high-ranking officials’ such as members of the National Assembly and former and current senior public officials.

According to the government joint special investigation headquarters (Special Investigation Headquarters) on the 25th, the seizure preservation request by the police for land and buildings purchased by Pocheon city executive official A, who is suspected of speculation using insider information, was approved yesterday afternoon by the Uijeongbu District Court. In September last year, A purchased approximately 2,600㎡ of land near the planned station site for the extension of Seoul Subway Line 7 in Pocheon, jointly with his wife, along with a one-story prefabricated building, spending 4 billion KRW. The police reportedly filed the seizure preservation request for this real estate.

Seizure preservation is a court order that freezes illegal profit assets so that the suspect cannot dispose of them arbitrarily before a final judgment is made. With the approval of seizure preservation, A cannot dispose of the property until a final verdict is reached, and if found guilty, the property will be confiscated as is.

This decision is expected to have a significant impact on the future recovery of unjust gains from public officials suspected of real estate speculation. It sends a signal that at least for acts of speculation using insider information by public officials, related assets can be confiscated. In reality, since confiscation of speculative profits through legislation by the National Assembly is difficult, the police’s seizure preservation request is seen as the best judgment.

Although the ruling and opposition parties passed the so-called ‘LH Recurrence Prevention Act’ in the plenary session the day before, retroactive application legislation was excluded amid constitutional controversy. A police official said, "We plan to freeze suspicious speculative real estate through seizure preservation requests and actively pursue recovery."

The scope of police investigations into speculation suspicions is also gradually expanding from LH employees and local government officials to high-ranking officials. The Special Investigation Headquarters is currently investigating 89 cases of speculation suspicion, with 398 suspects. Among them, 116 are public officials, including 3 current members of the National Assembly, 19 city council members, and 2 former and current senior public officials. Some cases initially reported to the prosecution involving National Assembly members are also being returned to the police, so the number of investigations is expected to increase. The police are also considering deploying the Major Crimes Investigation Division, a direct investigation unit within the National Police Agency’s National Investigation Headquarters, for high-ranking official investigations.

Choi Seung-ryeol, head of the Investigation Bureau at the National Investigation Headquarters, emphasized, "Since there may be many public suspicions, we will carefully manage and scrutinize cases involving members of the National Assembly, city and provincial council members, and former and current senior public officials."

However, after official A, additional arrest warrant requests appear to be on hold. Regarding the so-called ‘President Kang’ and other LH employees initially suspected of speculation, considering data analysis, statement verification, and the possibility of additional summons, it is expected to be difficult to request an arrest warrant within this week. The police have stated that they will, in principle, conduct arrest investigations regardless of the scale for public officials’ speculative acts using insider information.

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