Gyeonggi-do Conducts Home Raids on High-Value Tax Delinquents, Seizes and Freezes Hidden Assets Worth 2 Billion Won

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province conducted house searches based on the unused status of issued checks by high-amount tax delinquents and collected and seized hidden assets worth about 2 billion KRW, including cash, precious metals, and ships, from 28 individuals.

From February to June, Gyeonggi Province investigated the unused status of checks issued by 17 first-tier financial banks for over 28,000 high-amount tax delinquents who owed more than 10 million KRW in local taxes. Based on this, house searches were conducted on 28 delinquents suspected of possessing assets.

As a result of the house searches, about 500 million KRW in checks and cash were found and immediately collected. Additionally, nine luxury watches, about 200 pieces of precious metals including gold turtles, luxury bags, ships, and forklifts were seized. The province estimates the value of the seized items excluding checks and cash at about 1.5 billion KRW.

In a major case, delinquent A, residing in Pocheon, had not paid about 10 million KRW in local taxes since 2014, but the investigation confirmed ownership of a 16-meter-long ship (estimated value 70 million KRW). The province tracked the ship’s location and sealed the ignition and steering keys of A’s ship moored in Yangyang-gun, Gangwon Province, requested cooperation from the port authority to prohibit departure, and is currently conducting a public auction.

Delinquent B, residing in Yongin, owed 60 million KRW in local taxes, but checks, cash worth 20 million KRW, luxury watches, and precious metals were found in a high-priced apartment owned by his wife and were collected and seized.

Delinquent C, residing in Paju, who owed 150 million KRW in local taxes, refused to pay despite dozens of payment demands since 2019. However, when the house search was conducted, he immediately paid 75 million KRW on-site and promised to pay the remaining balance in installments.

During the seizure of movable property, if tax evasion behavior is confirmed, the province plans to take follow-up measures such as criminal prosecution of the delinquent and their accomplices according to the provisions of the Local Tax Basic Act and the Civil Act. The province will recover tax revenue through public auctions of seized precious metals in addition to the checks and cash collected on-site.

Kim Min-kyung, Director of the Tax Justice Division of the province, emphasized, "We will mobilize all possible procedures to carry out pinpoint tax collection to realize fair taxation."

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