"40s Colleague Who Took Out 7 Billion Won Loan and Cheated 30 Large Corporation Employees"

Real Estate Investment Scam Targeting Coworkers
Woman in Her 40s Arrested and Sent to Prosecution

A woman in her 40s who borrowed names from colleagues under the pretext of real estate investment and then took out credit loans and jeonse deposit loans, embezzling over 7 billion KRW, has been handed over to the prosecution.

Sejong Police Agency announced on the 10th that they arrested and sent A (in her 40s) to prosecution on the 31st of last month on charges of fraud and forgery of private documents under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, and that investigations into accomplices are also underway.

A is accused of working at a large corporation in Cheongju, Chungbuk, and from 2020 until December last year, opening mobile phones under the names of about 30 colleagues, then using these to obtain jeonse deposit loans and credit loans under the victims’ names, embezzling a total of about 7 billion KRW.

The victims suffered loan damages ranging from as little as 50 million KRW to as much as about 600 million KRW.

Initially, A approached them by recommending real estate auction investment and promised principal and 10% interest guarantees. Colleagues who had worked together for over 10 years believed the rumors that A was making money through real estate auctions and living a wealthy life, so they trusted and handed over investment funds.

At first, the principal and interest were paid normally, which increased the victims’ trust. Later, A asked the victims for their ID cards and power of attorney, deceiving them by promising to pay 2 million KRW for lending their names and an additional 5 million KRW if the auction was successful.

A used the victims’ ID cards to open mobile phones, then issued certificates through these phones to obtain credit loans and jeonse deposit loans under the victims’ names.

The case began to be investigated after a victim reported to the police in October last year upon receiving a delinquency payment order mail for a loan they did not apply for.

Additional complaints from victims are still being received, so the scale of the damage may increase further.

The jeonse apartments for which loans were executed by A were confirmed to be distributed across several regions including Chungbuk, Chungnam, and Sejong.

The police believe it is highly likely that A did not commit the crimes alone from mobile phone activation to jeonse contracts and loan execution, and are conducting parallel investigations into accomplices. They are also tracking the bank accounts where A transferred the loan money and the whereabouts of the remaining funds.

In police investigations, A stated that the criminal proceeds were used for interest repayment to lure other victims into the crime, repayment of existing loans, living expenses, and purchase of luxury goods.

A police official said, "The suspect admitted to the crime and mentioned accomplices, but we are verifying the credibility of the statements and investigating the additional scale of damage."

Meanwhile, according to the financial sector on the same day, Shinhan, KB Kookmin, and SC First Bank announced that financial accidents amounting to a total of about 5.6 billion KRW occurred in relation to A’s fraud case in the Sejong area, with 1.998 billion KRW, 2.2214 billion KRW, and 1.4679 billion KRW respectively.