Gyeongnam Police Agency Arrests 137 Jeonse Fraudsters and Detains 22 in One Year

The Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency announced on the 26th that it conducted two special crackdowns on jeonse fraud over the past year, arresting a total of 137 people in 95 cases and detaining 22 suspects.

The provincial police carried out the first crackdown from July 25 last year to January 24 this year, and the second from January 25 to July 24 this year.

Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency.
Photo by Lee Seryeong

According to the provincial police, 41 people were arrested in the first crackdown, including 2 who were detained, and 96 people were arrested in the second crackdown, including 20 who were detained. The number of people under investigation has reached 192.

The types of crimes included ▲ 40 cases of illegal brokerage activities such as charging fees exceeding legal limits and failure to disclose important information ▲ 21 cases of jeonse loan fraud that exhaust public funds such as financial institution jeonse loan funds ▲ 19 cases of non-refund of deposits such as "empty jeonse" (Kkangtong Jeonse).

▲ 8 cases of false disclosure related to real estate management ▲ 6 cases of unauthorized contracts ▲ 1 case of contracts exceeding the scope of delegation followed.

Classification Table of Jeonse Fraud Crime Types. [Data provided by Gyeongnam Police Agency]

The number of victims revealed in the crackdown was 98, with total damages amounting to 30 billion KRW.

By age group, victims in their 30s accounted for the highest proportion at 20.4%, followed by those in their 50s at 16.3%, and those in their 40s at 12.2%.

By housing type, apartments accounted for 37.7%, multi-family houses such as villas 34.6%, and officetels 23.4%.

Regarding the amount of damage per person, 28.6% suffered losses of 50 million KRW or less, 27.6% suffered losses of 300 million KRW or more, and 23.4% suffered losses between 50 million KRW and 100 million KRW.

During the crackdown, the police arrested four people and detained two who, on October 30, 2018, in a villa in Busan, forged move-in reports to obtain secured loans despite the tenant having received a confirmed date preventing loans, embezzling a total of 530 million KRW including a deposit of 445 million KRW.

From September 2019 to January this year, 53 people including the ringleader were arrested and 11 detained for embezzling a total of 3.7 billion KRW by purchasing houses with no difference between sale and jeonse prices and falsifying jeonse contracts to apply for jeonse loans.

From March 2020 to June last year, 16 people were arrested and 4 detained for embezzling a total of 8.13 billion KRW, including 1.61 billion KRW in jeonse funds and 6.52 billion KRW in fraudulent secured loans.

In Gimhae, a couple in their 50s, including a landlord who disappeared without returning about 2.4 billion KRW in deposits, were referred to the prosecution on fraud charges.

A couple in their 40s in Haman who signed contracts with tenants without disclosing collateral trusts, as well as a landlord in their 30s in Sacheon and a manager in their 40s, were also sent to the prosecution.

The Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency is continuing investigations into additional participants in existing jeonse fraud cases and plans to continue the second crackdown until December 31.

Chief Kim Byung-su said, “We have mobilized all police investigative capabilities to eradicate jeonse fraud that threatens people's livelihoods. Protecting the public and establishing economic justice is our fundamental duty, so through joint crackdowns with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the National Police Agency, we will root out jeonse fraud by the end of this year.”

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