Northern Gyeonggi Police Transfer Multiple 'Fighting Offenders'... 5 Arrested

Acquiring Farmland Under Employee Names, Splitting Shares, Using Front CEOs to Pocket Hundreds of Billions
Police Refer 366 People to Prosecution, Pre-Trial Seizure of 10 Billion Won in Real Estate Assets

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] The police special investigation unit, which is investigating real estate speculation by public officials and others, has sent a large number of speculation offenders, including corporate-type planned real estate executives and employees as well as public officials, to the prosecution.

The Special Investigation Unit for Real Estate Speculation Offenders of the Northern Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency announced on the 1st that "from March to October, a total of 366 real estate speculation offenders were sent to the prosecution, and among them, 5 were arrested."

Additionally, real estate worth approximately 10 billion KRW was seized and preserved before indictment from the suspects. By region, 41 people were from the 3rd New Town Changneung district, 16 from the Wangsuk district, and 309 from other new towns.

Among those sent to the prosecution were 16 public officials related persons, including Park Mo (53), a Pocheon City Hall official who was arrested and indicted on real estate investment charges, and a land compensation broker who was a former executive of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH).

Among the planned real estate suspects, employees of 11 companies are accused of illegally purchasing 116 farmland plots (258,029㎡) in areas such as Changneung district in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, and reselling them in the form of shared ownership (splitting farmland) to 2,122 ordinary people, earning about 77.8 billion KRW in capital gains.

In particular, two company representatives who were arrested on charges of violating the Farmland Act were found to have purchased land around Ilsan KINTEX for several years and resold it to 1,023 people using the "ownership splitting" method, earning 41.6 billion KRW.

To conceal their identities, they purchased farmland under employees' names and changed corporate names (operating 19 corporations) and representatives (so-called 'front men') every two years.

Former LH executives were also investigated for receiving money without qualifications and preparing compensation negotiation documents, or for leaking secrets and using corporate cards from real estate companies while in charge of compensation work during their tenure.

Meanwhile, the investigation into former Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Hyun-mi’s real estate-related allegations in Yeoncheon is expected to conclude within the year. Lawmakers Kim Han-jung of the Democratic Party and Choi Chun-sik of the People Power Party, who were investigated for real estate-related allegations, were cleared of charges.

The Special Investigation Unit stated, "In addition to the cases sent to the prosecution, 128 people in 17 cases are still under investigation, and we plan to conduct strict investigations according to law and principles."

The Special Investigation Unit for Real Estate Speculation Offenders of the Northern Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency is led by Investigation Chief Kwak Soon-gi (Police Commissioner).

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