'Villa Wang's Backer' Consulting CEO Says in Court, "Not the Main Culprit"

The defendants in the so-called 'Gangseo Villa King' case, who bought hundreds of villas and carried out a jeonse fraud scheme, admitted to the charges in court. However, they shifted responsibility onto each other.

On the 15th, Judge Kang Min-ho of Criminal Division 10 at the Seoul Central District Court held the second trial for Shin (39), the CEO of a real estate consulting firm, and Kim (50), a villa buyer, who were indicted on charges including fraud.

Shin's lawyer stated, "The defendant acknowledges all objective facts," and "There is no excuse for the numerous victims," but added, "Although the defendant appears to be the planner and main culprit, there is no difference from other involved parties."

He also shifted blame by saying, "Kim led the price speculation." The lawyer pointed out, "Kim claims he only lent his name, but considering he held a real estate agent license and flaunted his wealth while purchasing, the degree of the defendant's collusion differs from the prosecution's allegations."

On the other hand, Kim's lawyer argued, "He became involved in the case after initially lending his name at Shin's request," and "There is a dispute regarding the conspiracy relationship, including the distribution of kickbacks."

Previously, Jung, who bought about 240 newly built villas and officetels in the Gangseo and Yangcheon districts of Seoul and rented them out, suddenly died in Jeju in July 2021. Shin was identified as the mastermind behind Jung and several other 'Villa Kings.'

Shin is accused of having multiple 'nominal landlords' who lent their names to his real estate consulting firm, buying multi-family houses through a 'zero-capital gap speculation' method, and embezzling tenants' jeonse deposits. Zero-capital gap speculation is a scheme where lease and sales contracts are conducted simultaneously, using the tenant's jeonse deposit to cover the purchase price of newly built villas without any personal capital. It was revealed that Shin deceived 37 tenants in the metropolitan area using this method, embezzling about 8 billion KRW in deposits.

The prosecution charged Kim with fraud as well, believing he conspired in the crime by lending his name to Shin, and brought him to trial.