A Man in His 30s Who Embezzled 1.3 Billion Won Deposit in No-Capital 'Kkangtong Jeonse' Case, Ultimately...

Purchase of 3 Multi-Family Houses
Fraud Against 24 Tenants Over Approximately 3 Years

A landlord who embezzled billions of won in jeonse deposits through a so-called 'empty-can jeonse' scheme has been brought to trial.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the Daegu District Prosecutors' Office indicted a man in his 30s, Mr. A, on fraud charges on the 7th. Mr. A purchased three multi-family housing buildings, known as 'empty cans,' by assuming existing loans and lease deposit return obligations without any capital. He is accused of deceiving 24 tenants by underreporting the lease deposit amounts he was responsible for, thereby embezzling approximately 1.3 billion won.

Daegu High School · District Prosecutors' Office
[Photo by Yonhap News Agency Archives]

Prosecutors' investigation revealed that Mr. A deceived new tenants by underreporting or withholding the total amount of existing lease deposits when signing new contracts. The total lease deposit amount is the sum Mr. A must return to tenants. If new tenants learn that this amount exceeds the value of the multi-family housing, they are highly likely to refuse the contract.

Regarding this indictment, the prosecution stated, "We will do our best to ensure that the defendant (Mr. A) receives punishment commensurate with his crimes during the trial process," and added, "We will continue to respond strictly to serious crimes such as jeonse fraud that infringe on the housing rights of ordinary citizens."

Meanwhile, it has been revealed that 17,593 people were recognized as victims within one year of the enactment of the Special Act on Support for Jeonse Fraud Victims. The government expects about 36,000 victims to be identified before the two-year temporary special law expires.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Jeonse Fraud Victim Support Committee held a plenary meeting on the 29th of last month and approved 533 victim recognition applications. Among the applications, 79.4% were approved, 10.2% (2,267 cases) were rejected, and 7.3% (1,601 cases) were excluded from victim recognition because they had subscribed to the jeonse deposit return guarantee insurance or received priority repayment to recover the full deposit.

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