[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] The initial purchase price was approximately 7.2 billion KRW, but the amount subject to seizure and confiscation preservation soared to 24 billion KRW. According to the contents of the seizure and confiscation preservation application approved by the court, the Government Joint Special Investigation Headquarters (Special Investigation Headquarters) revealed that public officials gained more than three times the unfair profits by using insider information.
The Special Investigation Headquarters, investigating real estate speculation allegations triggered by Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), explained on the 12th, "We applied for seizure preservation on four properties worth about 24 billion KRW purchased by the detained suspects, and the court approved the application."
Pre-indictment seizure preservation is a system that freezes the proceeds obtained from crimes before a court's final verdict is issued, preventing arbitrary disposal. Confiscation preservation also allows the recovery of criminal proceeds later by seizing the suspect's assets related to the crime.
As of today, the police have confirmed a total of four cases of seizure and confiscation preservation. These include land purchased by a public official from Pocheon City, the first case of detention since the Special Investigation Headquarters was launched, and a former Gyeonggi Provincial Government official who purchased land near the Yongin semiconductor cluster. All are suspected of purchasing land using insider information.
The initial purchase price of these lands, currently valued at 24 billion KRW at market price, was a total of 7.2 billion KRW. Although there are differences in purchase timing and capital gains per property, the value increased more than threefold within about one to two to three years. This capital gain appears possible because they had insider information about regional development. A Special Investigation Headquarters official explained, "The seizure and confiscation preservation amount is based on the current market price."
The amount subject to seizure and confiscation preservation related to speculation allegations is expected to increase further. The Special Investigation Headquarters emphasized, "Public officials involved in speculation corruption will be strictly prosecuted with detention as a principle, and speculative profits will be recovered through seizure and confiscation preservation."
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