Real Estate Brokerage Fee Collusion 'Garakhoe'... Four Licensed Realtors Found Guilty

Allegations of Blocking Non-Members and Joint Brokerage

The prosecution announced that in the appeal trial of a case where real estate agents formed a membership-based group to collude in brokerage, a guilty verdict was delivered.

Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office.

According to the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office on the 10th, Mr. A, the president who was indicted for creating the real estate agents' membership group 'Garakhoe' and preventing joint brokerage with non-members (violation of the Real Estate Agents Act), was sentenced to 8 months in prison. Two members received 4 months in prison with a one-year probation, and the remaining member was fined 5 million won. They established Garakhoe in November 2020, charged new members a joining fee of 20 to 30 million won, and imposed fines for violating the association rules.

The Seoul Metropolitan Special Judicial Police forwarded the case in July 2021 with a 'no charges' opinion, stating there was no evidence to prove collusion. However, the prosecution seized and analyzed mobile phones and bank accounts, collected evidence such as the Garakhoe organizational chart and membership fee payment records, and indicted them without detention.

A prosecution official stated, "We will continue to strictly respond to organized real estate brokerage collusion cases to ensure that the transaction order in the real estate market is properly maintained and that consumers are not burdened with those costs."

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