Gyeonggi-do Completes Investigation of Jeonse Fraud Brokers in Suwon... 47 Referred to Prosecution

Gyeonggi Provincial Government

Gyeonggi Province announced on the 30th that it investigated 28 real estate agencies suspected of involvement in the Jeong family’s jeonse fraud in Suwon, identifying 65 licensed real estate agents and assistant brokers, and referred 47 of them to the prosecution on charges of violating the Licensed Real Estate Agents Act and other laws.

The remaining 18 individuals were transferred to the police on suspicion of fraud in addition to violations of the Licensed Real Estate Agents Act.

Earlier, from October last year to February this year, Gyeonggi Province investigated 28 real estate agencies suspected of participating in the Jeong family’s jeonse fraud in Suwon, uncovering 36 licensed real estate agents and 29 assistant brokers.

The 65 individuals identified brokered 540 cases from February 2020 to June 2023, engaging in illegal activities prohibited by the Licensed Real Estate Agents Act, such as charging an additional 290 million KRW beyond the statutory brokerage fees, providing false explanations about brokerage properties, and lending their real estate agent qualifications to others.

They mainly used social networking service (SNS) group chat rooms to induce contracts at prices higher than market value for newly built villas owned by the Jeong family or villas with difficulty finding tenants.

The 18 individuals transferred to the police on fraud charges were found to have set lease deposit amounts higher than the building acquisition price, falsely explained the status of monthly rent contracts and mortgage rights, deceived tenants, and conspired with landlords and real estate agents through no-capital gap investment and simultaneous transactions to defraud tenants.

Ko Jung-guk, Director of the Land Information Division of Gyeonggi Province, stated, "We will continue to investigate strictly and without leniency those licensed real estate agents who collude with malicious landlords to cause ordinary citizens to lose their hard-earned life savings and engage in illegal acts solely for their own benefit."