'Villa King' Real Estate Consulting Firm CEO Arrested

Court: "Concerns of Evidence Tampering and Flight"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Shin Mo (39), the CEO of a real estate consulting firm identified as the mastermind behind the 'Villa Kings' who own hundreds of villas, was arrested on the 13th. The police, having taken Shin into custody, plan to thoroughly investigate whether there are any additional crimes.

The day before, Seoul Central District Court's warrant judge Kim Sangwoo, who conducted the pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant review) for Shin in the afternoon, issued an arrest warrant in the early morning, citing "risk of evidence destruction and flight."

Shin is accused of fraud for purchasing multi-family houses using a 'no-capital gap speculation' method by employing several 'nominal landlords' who lent their names to his real estate consulting firm, then embezzling tenants' jeonse deposits. No-capital gap speculation is a scheme where lease and sales contracts are executed simultaneously, using the tenant's jeonse deposit to cover the purchase price of newly built villas without any personal capital.

Previously, Jeong Mo purchased about 240 newly built villas and officetels in the Gangseo and Yangcheon districts of Seoul and rented them out, but suddenly died in Jeju in July 2021. Shin was identified as the figure behind Jeong.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency confirmed that Shin was behind several other villa kings besides Jeong and applied for an arrest warrant on fraud charges on the 5th. Accordingly, the prosecution requested the warrant from the court the following day. The police, having secured Shin's custody, will now actively investigate whether there are other crimes beyond those identified so far.

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