503 Jeonse Fraudsters Including 'Geonchukwang' Caught in Incheon Over One Year... Damage Amounting to 120 Billion Won

First Application of Criminal Organization Charges to Jeonse Fraud Group
Victims in Their 20s and 30s Account for 60%, the Highest Proportion

As a result of investigating jeonse fraud cases in Incheon over the past year, the police found that victims in their 20s and 30s accounted for 60%, the highest proportion, and the total damage amounted to around 120 billion KRW. In addition, more than 500 suspects were identified, including those involved in the so-called 'Construction King' and 'Youth Villa King' cases.

The Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency announced on the 26th that from July last year to recently, they conducted a special crackdown on 100 jeonse fraud cases, arresting a total of 503 people, of whom 53 were detained. Among the suspects caught was the so-called 'Construction King' group, who were indicted on charges of embezzling 43 billion KRW in jeonse deposits from tenants for 533 apartments and villas in the Michuhol-gu area of Incheon. The police applied the crime syndicate organization charge for the first time in a jeonse fraud case against them.

Also, in December last year, four accomplices suspected of jeonse fraud amounting to 9.2 billion KRW related to the so-called 'Youth Villa King' case, in which the landlord died without returning deposits to tenants in Incheon, were arrested. They were prosecuted for allegedly embezzling 9.25 billion KRW in jeonse deposits from 64 tenants over two years starting from July 2020.

Jeonse contract seized as evidence of Jeonse fraud
[Photo by Incheon Police Agency]

The police investigation identified a total of 765 victims of jeonse fraud, with total damages amounting to 123.8 billion KRW. Among all victims, those in their 20s and 30s numbered 456 (59.5%), the largest group, followed by 155 in their 40s and 70 in their 50s. Regarding the amount of damage per person, 585 victims (76.4%) suffered losses between 50 million and 100 million KRW, 88 victims (11.5%) between 100 million and 200 million KRW, 48 victims (6.4%) between 200 million and 300 million KRW, and 17 victims (2.2%) over 300 million KRW.

In terms of housing types of the victims, 342 (44.8%) were officetels, 263 (34.4%) apartments, 157 (20.5%) multi-family houses, and 3 (0.4%) detached houses.

Out of 17 cases where the police applied for seizure and preservation of criminal proceeds before indictment, 10 were accepted by the court, resulting in the confiscation and preservation of 3.5 billion KRW in criminal proceeds. The Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency plans to continue identifying additional participants in previously investigated jeonse fraud cases and extend the special crackdown until the end of this year.

A police official stated, "Jeonse fraud is currently occurring nationwide, and there are cases where young people are involved in the crimes. If you receive offers to pay money in exchange for real estate purchases or requests to lend your name, you should first suspect it might be a fraud."

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