Police Close Investigation Without Prosecution in Busan Haeundae LCT Preferential Sale Allegation Case
[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] The police investigation into the preferential sale of apartments at Busan Haeundae LCT has concluded with no charges, ending the investigation of 128 individuals.
The police received a petition regarding the preferential sale allegations at LCT and conducted an investigation for five months.
However, the investigation into Park Hyung-joon, the Mayor of Busan, who was not specified as a suspect in the petition, is still ongoing.
The Anti-Corruption and Economic Crime Investigation Unit of the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency announced on the 4th that after thoroughly reviewing the petition, they found no evidence to recognize bribery charges and thus closed the investigation.
Charges related to violations of the Housing Act were excluded from the investigation due to the statute of limitations.
According to the police, they verified the apartment acquisition details of all 128 individuals listed in the suspicious preferential sale list submitted by the petitioner in early March but found no subjects to be charged with bribery.
At the time, the petitioner alleged that the LCT developer purchased pre-sale rights at a premium and provided them to 128 influential figures, with suspicions of down payment payments being made on their behalf during the process.
A representative from the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency stated, “Although the petitioner claimed to have received preferential sales, there was a surge in unsold units at the time, so it could not be considered preferential sales. Many of the listed individuals did not purchase LCT apartments, and those who did bought them through normal transactions, so there were no subjects for bribery charges.”
Previously, the police investigated whether bribery charges applied to 43 units revealed as “queue-jumping sales” following a 2016 prosecution investigation.
Among them, only one high-ranking public official, a former Busan city employee identified as Mr. A, was subject to bribery charges.
The police investigated whether Chairman Lee Young-bok, the actual owner of LCT, paid Mr. A’s down payment but confirmed that Mr. A personally took out a loan and paid the down payment.
A representative from the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency said, “Despite a comprehensive investigation, no evidence was found to recognize bribery charges, so Mr. A was not referred for prosecution. Violations of the Housing Act were excluded due to the expiration of the statute of limitations, and only bribery charges with remaining statutes of limitations were investigated.”
The general view in the local real estate industry is that there was no need for “preferential sales” at the time of LCT’s sale due to the large number of unsold apartments.
However, the preferential sale allegations against Park Hyung-joon, the Mayor of Busan, who owns one LCT apartment under his spouse’s name, have not yet been concluded.
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