Borrowed 6.8 Billion Won in Company Funds to Buy 11.75 Billion Won Home... Numerous Suspicious Housing Transactions Uncovered in Seoul and Gyeonggi

Real Estate Supervision Task Force Holds 12th Meeting
Special Investigation Targets Transactions Reported from July to October Last Year

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on April 23 that it had investigated 2,255 suspicious housing transactions in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, identifying 746 cases suspected of violating the law.

This investigation covered all of Seoul and 15 locations in Gyeonggi Province, focusing on transactions reported between July and October of last year. Previously, from January to April of last year, the investigation targeted only Seoul, but has since gradually expanded to other regions. Since a single transaction could involve multiple suspected violations, the total number of alleged violations was tallied at 867.

The most frequently detected violations were illicit gifts and excessive borrowing between related parties, accounting for a total of 572 cases. For example, individual A purchased an apartment in Seoul for 11.75 billion won, funding 6.77 billion won of that amount by borrowing from a corporation where he serves as an internal director. Another case involved a person who bought an apartment from their mother for 2.34 billion won, then signed a jeonse (long-term lease) contract with their mother as a tenant for 1.7 billion won. As this transaction price was 500 million won lower than the prevailing market price for similar units, tax authorities were notified to determine if this constituted a gift.

An apartment viewed from Lotte World Tower in Songpa-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

There were 191 cases of false reporting of transaction amounts or contract dates, and 99 cases suspected of misusing loan funds for purposes other than originally intended. For instance, individual B borrowed 788 million won from a bank under the pretense of business operating funds, but is suspected of using the money to purchase an apartment in Seoul for 1.83 billion won. This case was reported to financial authorities.

In addition, there were four cases suspected of violating the Certified Real Estate Agents Act and one case suspected of violating the Real Name Real Estate Transactions Act. On this day, the Government Policy Coordination Office’s Real Estate Supervision Task Force held its 12th meeting to address illegal real estate activities and released these findings.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport found 306 cases of unregistered transactions after reviewing approximately 250,000 apartment transactions reported nationwide in the first half of last year, and notified the relevant local governments. These involved cases where the final payment date recorded on the real estate transaction contract exceeded 60 days, but the transfer of ownership had not yet been completed. The ministry stated, "We accept reports on a wide range of real estate market disruptions, including price collusion, market manipulation, and illegal advertising or listings of properties online, through our integrated illegal real estate activity reporting center, and plan to respond strictly to all reported cases in cooperation with local governments and other authorities."

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