23 Referred to Special Investigation Unit by Anti-Corruption Commission for 'Real Estate Speculation Allegations'... Assigned to Provincial Police Agencies

Including 1 Member of the National Assembly and 2 Local Government Heads

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] Amid suspicions that some public officials, including incumbent members of the National Assembly and local government heads, engaged in real estate speculation, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) has requested an investigation, and it has been confirmed that 18 cases were transferred to the Government Joint Special Investigation Headquarters (Special Investigation Headquarters, SIH).

According to the SIH on the 6th, out of the 21 cases requested for investigation by the ACRC, 18 cases involving 23 individuals were transferred to the SIH. By status, there is 1 member of the National Assembly, 2 local government heads, 5 local council members, 9 public officials, 5 public institution employees, and 1 civilian. Among the public institution employees, 3 are former and current employees of the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), and the 1 member of the National Assembly is known to be included among the 23 members already under investigation by the SIH.

The ACRC previously operated a concentrated reporting period for public officials' job-related speculative acts from March to June, receiving a total of 65 reports, and at the end of last month, announced that it had requested investigations into 21 suspected speculation cases. The remaining 3 cases not transferred to the SIH were reportedly handed over to the prosecution.

Among the cases requested for investigation are a local government construction official who operated real estate he owned as short-term rental accommodations to generate rental income but sold it after learning that investigations into speculation by public officials would begin following the LH scandal in March this year, and a development-related public enterprise manager who speculated by obtaining bank loans after identifying land for a public project before its official designation announcement.

An SIH official explained, "Cases have been steadily transferred from the ACRC from March until the end of last month," adding, "Some cases overlap with those already under investigation by the SIH." The SIH assigned the transferred cases to city and provincial police agencies for investigation: 8 cases to the Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency, 2 to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, and 1 case each to the Gyeonggi Northern, Busan, Gyeongnam, Gyeongbuk, Daegu, Jeonbuk, Chungnam, and Daejeon police agencies.

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