A Woman in Her 30s, Victim of Yangcheon Jeonse Fraud, Found Dead... Fourth Death Reported

Fourth Death of Jeonse Fraud Victim

A woman in her 30s who was unable to recover her jeonse deposit was found dead at her home in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul. This is the fourth death this year related to jeonse fraud.

On the 11th, the Yangcheon Police Station in Seoul announced that a woman in her 30s, identified as Ms. A, was found dead at a villa in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul on the 8th and is currently under investigation.

According to the police, Ms. A had signed a jeonse contract with Mr. Kim, a man in his 40s known as the "villa king," who owned about 1,000 houses in the Gangseo-gu area of Seoul but did not return the deposits before his death. Ms. A signed a lease contract for the villa with a jeonse deposit of 300 million KRW, of which approximately 240 million KRW was reportedly a loan.

Currently, the Financial Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency is investigating the death of Mr. Kim, which occurred in October last year. It is known that many of those who had contracts with Mr. Kim were unable to proceed with subrogation repayment procedures, leading to financial difficulties.

A police official stated, "We are investigating the exact circumstances of Ms. A's death."

Since the first half of this year, as victims of jeonse fraud in their 20s and 30s have died one after another, civic groups have also begun collective actions. The "Civil Society Countermeasures Committee for Resolving Jeonse Fraud and Empty Jeonse," composed of 65 civic organizations including the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, stated, "Negligence in management and supervision of malicious landlords, real estate agents, financial institutions, and guarantee agencies, as well as loan-centered housing policies, have increased housing insecurity." They added, "Due to high interest rates, falling house prices, and occurrences of auctions, seizures, and jeonse price drops, the risk of landlords failing to return deposits on time is spreading widely."

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