Tenant Fraud Victim Dies in Incheon... Already the Third Case

by Yun Seulgi

Published 17 Apr.2023 14:41(KST)

Found Unconscious on the 17th... Died While Being Transported to Hospital

A victim of a jeonse fraud was found dead in Incheon. This is the third time since February that a victim of jeonse fraud has taken their own life.

According to the Michuhol Police Station in Incheon on the 17th, at around 2:12 a.m., a woman in her 30s, Ms. A, was found unconscious in an apartment in Michuhol-gu, Incheon. A friend who visited her home after work found Ms. A collapsed and called 119, but she died while being transported to the hospital. A suicide note was found at her home.

On the morning of the 7th, a water bill notice was found inside a garbage bag in front of an apartment in Michuhol-gu, Incheon, where A, a victim who died from a jeonse fraud, had lived. According to the Michuhol Police Station in Incheon, A was found unconscious at this location at 2:12 a.m. that day but died while being transported to the hospital. Photo by Yonhap News

Investigations revealed that Ms. A was a victim who had not received her jeonse deposit back from the so-called 'Construction King' and had reported the case to the police.

According to the Michuhol-gu Jeonse Fraud Victim Countermeasure Committee, Ms. A signed a jeonse contract in September 2019 with a deposit of 72 million won. Later, in September 2021, she renewed the contract with the landlord’s request, increasing the deposit to 90 million won.

However, the apartment where Ms. A lived was auctioned off entirely with about 60 households in June last year due to jeonse fraud, and Ms. A was unable to recover her deposit. The apartment was completed in 2017, and to be eligible for the priority repayment amount of 27 million won, the jeonse deposit must be 80 million won or less.

According to the Victim Countermeasure Committee and others, Ms. A had been living a difficult life due to the jeonse fraud and had been trying to receive relief for the damages.

This is the third time a victim has taken their own life related to the jeonse fraud case in Michuhol-gu, Incheon. On February 28 and the 14th of this month, two victims in their 20s to 30s who failed to recover their deposits from Mr. B were also found dead.

Meanwhile, Mr. B, the 'Construction King,' was arrested and indicted on charges of embezzling 12.5 billion won in jeonse deposits from tenants of 161 apartments and villas in the Michuhol-gu area between January and July last year, along with real estate agents and others.

※ If you have difficult feelings such as depression or know family or acquaintances going through such hardships, you can receive 24-hour professional counseling through the Suicide Prevention Hotline ☎1393, Mental Health Counseling ☎1577-0199, Lifeline ☎1588-9191, Youth Hotline ☎1388, the youth mobile counseling app 'Da Deureojul Gae,' KakaoTalk, and other channels.