'90s Big Player' Jo Choon-ja Sentenced Again for 900 Million Won-Scale Pre-sale Fraud

Seoul Central District Court, Seocho-dong, Seoul.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] Jo Chun-ja (71), who gained notoriety in the 1990s for apartment sales fraud involving hundreds of millions of won, is currently serving a prison sentence for committing another multi-million won sales fraud using a similar method.

On the 26th, according to the legal community, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Appeal Division 2 (Chief Judge Lee Gwan-yong) dismissed Jo's appeal in the appeal trial for fraud charges and upheld the original sentence of 4 years in prison.

Jo was charged with deceiving multiple victims, including victim A, at her office in 2016 by persuading them to purchase the pre-sale rights of an apartment in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, at a price lower than the market value, falsely promising to refund double the subscription money if they could not move in, thereby embezzling 20 million won and a total of 910 million won.

In the first trial, the court sentenced her to 4 years in prison, stating, "The defendant committed the crime during the recidivism period, the number of victims is considerable, and the amount of damage is significant, yet she denies all charges and shows no remorse."

Jo appealed the verdict but the appeal was rejected.

Jo is also facing trials for several other separate fraud charges related to this case.

Previously, in 1991, Jo was arrested and indicted for fraudulently receiving investment funds by falsely claiming to build apartments in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, and recruiting more cooperative members than the capacity while acting as an agent for apartment sales, embezzling 32.3 billion won in deposits and interim payments, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.