Man in His 60s Sentenced to Prison for Selling Undevelopable Forest Land as Rural Home Site Through Fraud

Fraudulently Obtained 28 Million Won by Claiming "Forest Land Can Be Developed"

A man in his 60s has been sentenced to prison for fraud after deceiving an acquaintance into believing that a mountain forest, which could not legally be developed, was suitable land for a rural home, and illegally obtaining tens of millions of won. Despite a prior conviction for violating the Mountainous Districts Management Act, he committed the offense by deceiving a friend, and the victim has not been compensated for several years.

On May 6, Judge Park Kyunghwan of the Gwangju District Court Criminal Division 7 announced that Kim, a 63-year-old defendant charged with fraud, was sentenced to eight months in prison. However, the court did not order Kim to be taken into custody immediately, in order to guarantee his right to defense and give him an opportunity to compensate the victim.

Exterior view of Gwangju District Court.

Kim was indicted for selling a piece of forest land in Gokseong County, South Jeolla Province, which was owned by his common-law spouse, to his acquaintance, referred to as Mr. A, in 2020. He falsely promised to open a road and carry out civil engineering work so that a rural home could be built, and fraudulently obtained 28 million won from Mr. A as a down payment and interim payment.

Investigations revealed that the land in question had already been denied a construction permit by the county office due to unauthorized development and changes to the land’s characteristics. In particular, Kim had previously been fined for attempting to illegally develop the same forest land in violation of the Mountainous Districts Management Act, yet still went ahead with this fraudulent scheme.

It was confirmed that Kim has seven previous convictions related to fraud, and is currently appealing another fraud conviction after being sentenced to prison in the first trial.

The court stated, "More than four years and eight months have passed since the crime, yet there has been no restitution to the victim, who is petitioning for a severe punishment. Considering that Kim continues to deny the crime and shows no remorse, a prison sentence was unavoidable."

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