The 'Signiel' Proudly Owned by Jeoncheongjo... Short-Term Rental with 35 Million Won Monthly Rent

Victim Invited to Apartment
Posing as Chaebol to Commit Investment Fraud

Jeon Cheong-jo (27), the former fianc? of former national fencing representative Nam Hyun-hee, has been brought to trial on charges of investment fraud, and it has been revealed that the expensive apartment Jeon used to flaunt his wealth was actually a short-term rental.

The Criminal Division 2 of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Park Myung-hee) announced on the 29th that Jeon was arrested and indicted on charges including fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, general fraud, forgery of official documents, use of forged official documents, forgery of private documents, and use of forged private documents.

According to the prosecution, Jeon is accused of embezzling 3.078 billion KRW from 27 people he met through lectures and other means from April last year to October this year.

Jeon Cheong-jo, who was decided to be sent to the prosecution on charges including fraud, appeared at the Songpa Police Station in Seoul on the morning of the 10th and was escorted to the Eastern District Prosecutors' Office while answering questions from the press. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Jeon flaunted his wealth through various means, the most representative being the Signiel apartment in Lotte World Tower, Songpa-gu, Seoul. However, it was found that the apartment was rented short-term for three months at a monthly rent of 35 million KRW, and he invited victims there. Nam Hyun-hee is also reported to have lived there.

In addition, Jeon rented several expensive supercars to give rides to victims and invited them to tours in VIP rooms of 5-star hotels and penthouses. It was also investigated that he regularly accompanied 4 to 5 bodyguards, paying each about 15 million KRW per month.

Through this, Jeon pretended to be the hidden successor of Paradise Group and a major shareholder of a U.S. Nasdaq-listed company. He deceived victims by saying, "I will provide secret investment opportunities known only to chaebols."

According to the prosecution, most victims were acquaintances from Jeon's social networking services (SNS) and parents of students at a fencing academy. More than 90% were young adults in their 20s and 30s just starting their careers. There were also cases where victims suffered additional damage by taking out loans of about 100 million KRW and having to repay about 2 million KRW monthly in principal and interest.

Jeon is also accused of forging a male resident registration card with a number starting with '1' to impersonate a man. According to the resident registration, Jeon is female.

Jeon is known to have committed fraud by changing gender depending on the situation. Investment fraud was mainly conducted under a male identity, while on instant dating applications, Jeon pretended to be a "wealthy woman in her 20s seeking marriage" to receive large sums of money from victims.

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