Gyeongnam Province Requests Investigation of 4 Public Officials ... Suspected High-Profit Speculation and Illegal Trading

On the 30th, Gyeongnam Provincial Audit Committee Announces Full Investigation Results on Public Officials' Real Estate Speculation

Gyeongsangnam-do Provincial Government Building Exterior View

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Saeyan] It has been revealed that four public officials in Gyeongnam Province made large profits from price differences by purchasing and selling land. On the 30th, Gyeongnam Province requested a police investigation into these individuals.

The Gyeongnam Provincial Audit Committee conducted a full-scale investigation from March to April 23 targeting 2,540 people, including public officials of grade 4 or higher in the province, employees of the relevant project departments, executives and employees of Gyeongnam Development Corporation, as well as their spouses and direct relatives, across 14 towns and townships in six development project sites within the province.

The scope of the investigation covered all real estate transactions in the project sites from January 1, 2014, to the present, considering the 7-year statute of limitations under the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission Act. Extracting real estate transaction reports confirmed that 29 related public officials conducted transactions involving 58 parcels totaling 65,412㎡.

Among the 29 individuals identified, six showed financial gains and underwent in-depth investigations. The results revealed that four of them were not working in the related departments at the time of the real estate purchases but were judged to have potential suspicions of illegal speculation.

Among these four, two had family members such as spouses purchase land, with unclear sources of funds, and each made profits of 207 million KRW and 61 million KRW from price differences. Another individual jointly purchased a high-priced vacant lot (398㎡) with two siblings, with a high loan-to-purchase ratio of 86%, and earned a profit of 78 million KRW.

The remaining individual and their spouse jointly purchased 2,416㎡ of land and sold it after three years, making a 43% profit of 73 million KRW compared to the acquisition price.

Gyeongnam Province plans to strengthen scrutiny of 2,916 individuals obligated to register assets among the investigation targets, focusing on undeclared assets, acquisition methods, sources of funds, and potential violations of other laws during the asset formation process.

Meanwhile, the Provincial Audit Committee is reviewing whether to conduct a second full-scale investigation into major national projects such as the Southern Inland Railroad construction project, the Jinju Chojeon New Town development project to be implemented by Gyeongnam Development Corporation, and the Geoje Jangmok Tourism Complex development project.

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