Court Sentences 30s Villa King to 12 Years in Prison in First Trial for 14 Billion Won Jeonse Fraud Case

The so-called '30s Villa King,' who was prosecuted for a jeonse fraud scheme worth 14 billion won in the Seoul metropolitan area, was sentenced to a heavy prison term in the first trial.

On the 16th, Judge Park Byung-gon of the Criminal Division 5 at the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Choi Mo (36), the 30s Villa King who was detained and indicted on charges including fraud, to 12 years in prison. Jeong Mo (35), the CEO of a consulting firm who was indicted as an accomplice, was sentenced to 3 years in prison.

Additionally, 21 people including Kim Mo, who were indicted for assisting their crimes by recruiting nominal trustees (violating the Real Name Real Estate Act), were sentenced to fines ranging from 800,000 to 12 million won.

Judge Park stated, “Choi did not properly inform the tenants that he owned hundreds of villas through a no-capital gap investment method,” and added, “If the tenants had known this fact, they would not have entered into the lease contracts or would not have done so under the same conditions, so failing to disclose this constitutes a deceptive act.”

Regarding Choi’s claim that he was unable to return the deposits due to overlapping real estate regulations and economic downturns, the judge said, “Such situations can occur at any time, so the landlord should have taken this into account,” and “Choi is responsible for undertaking something he could not handle without carefully considering the risks.”

About Jeong, who was also prosecuted, the judge said, “He admitted and reflected on his wrongdoing and reached agreements with some victims,” and “Considering that he has no prior criminal record except for a minor fine, the sentencing was determined accordingly.” He added, “Although a prison sentence was imposed, Jeong participated sincerely in the trial and seems to need an opportunity to further restore damages, so I will not revoke his bail decision.”

Choi is accused of embezzling a total of about 14.4 billion won in lease deposits from 70 tenants in the Seoul metropolitan area from June 2019 to April 2022 using the so-called ‘no-capital gap investment’ method. Jeong was prosecuted for conspiring with Choi to embezzle 760 million won in four installments.