Miryang Couple Public Officials' 'Fake Farmer Event'... Sentenced to Prison and Forfeiture of Speculative Land

Court's Judgment on Acquiring Property Using Confidential Information Learned During Work Process

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Song Jong-gu] A court sentenced a couple of public officials in Miryang, Gyeongnam, to prison and ordered the confiscation of real estate for allegedly posing as farmers to obtain false farmland acquisition qualification certificates, extracting development information, and purchasing land for speculative gains.

On the 4th, Chief Judge Maeng Jun-young of the Criminal Division 1, Miryang Branch of Changwon District Court, announced that A, who was tried for violating the Farmland Act and the Act on the Prevention of Corruption and the Establishment and Operation of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison, and B was sentenced to 3 years in prison.

Both are a couple of public officials at Miryang City Hall.

Chief Judge Maeng ordered their detention in court, citing concerns over evidence destruction and flight risk, although they had been undergoing trial without detention.

He also ordered the confiscation of approximately 2,000 square meters of farmland in Miryang City under B’s name.

The Farmland Act prohibits ownership of farmland by anyone who is not directly engaged in farming or utilizing the land.

It also stipulates that one must not obtain farmland acquisition qualification certificates through false or fraudulent means.

Between April and May 2016, the couple submitted farmland acquisition qualification application forms and agricultural management plans to Miryang City, claiming they would farm directly, to acquire farmland acquisition qualifications for farmland near the planned public housing district development site in Bubuk-myeon, Miryang City.

At that time, they each misrepresented their identities as a self-employed person and a housewife, respectively.

Chief Judge Maeng accepted the prosecution’s claim that they fraudulently obtained farmland acquisition qualification certificates by pretending they would manage the farmland themselves to gain speculative profits and purchase the land.

The couple also purchased approximately 2,000 square meters of farmland in Dajuk-ri, Sanwoe-myeon, Miryang City, under the wife B’s name in January 2015 for over 100 million won.

The land they purchased is adjacent across a river to the planned “Michon Public Land Development Project” in Michon-ri, Danjang-myeon, which Miryang City intends to develop as a tourist site.

A worked in the Strategic Business Task Force promoting this project from July 2014 to December 2017.

The couple claimed that the Michon Public Land Development Project was already widely rumored in the area and thus was not confidential.

However, the court ruled that having specific and direct internal information from involvement in the project is entirely different in informational value from merely hearing rumors, and judged that they acquired assets by using confidential information obtained during their official duties.

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