'Hwagok-dong Villa King' Kang and 2 Others Deny Charges at First Trial

'Villa King of Hwagok-dong' Kang Mo (55) and two real estate agency (gongin) associates who conspired in the crime denied the charges at the first trial.

At around 10 a.m. on the 7th, Judge Jung Yumi of the Criminal Division 11 at the Seoul Southern District Court held the first trial for Kang, a day laborer indicted on fraud charges, former A Gongin operator Cho Mo (53), and former real estate assistant Kim Mo (46). The three defendants denied the charges.

Kang's side stated, "We acknowledge the basic facts but had no intention to cause harm," adding, "We accept civil liability but deny the criminal charges in this case." When Judge Jung asked, "So you claim there was no intent to deceive?" Kang's side answered affirmatively.

Cho and Kim also denied conspiring with Kang in the crime. Cho's side stated, "We deny any conspiracy with Kang and there was no intent to deceive." Kim's side explained, "We did not co-manage A Gongin, and we were unaware that Kang lacked the intention or ability to return the deposit."

According to the prosecution, Kang, a day laborer, visited the Gongin operated by Cho around April 2015 and said, "I want to start a real estate rental business but do not have the funds to purchase real estate." Cho and Kim proposed a no-capital gap investment method for newly built villas in the Gangseo-gu and Yangcheon-gu areas of Seoul, saying, "You can own multiple properties without capital."

Investigations revealed that from September 2015 to December 2018, Kang purchased a total of 283 villas and other houses. Kang and others embezzled 2.863 billion KRW from 16 victims under the pretext of rental deposit guarantees and received rebates worth 5 to 15 million KRW per property from the builders. Separately, Kang alone embezzled 305 million KRW from two victims through two solo crimes starting in March 2018.

The next trial date is scheduled for 11 a.m. on the 7th of next month.

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