'1,630 Jeonse Fraudsters Prosecuted in the Last 2 Years... Government Vows "Strict Punishment for Economic Crimes"'

Since the implementation of the nationwide special crackdown on jeonse fraud at the intergovernmental level, a total of 1,630 jeonse fraud offenders have been prosecuted over the past two years.

On the morning of the 23rd, at the Sinchon university area in Mapo-gu, Seoul, victims of the "Sinchon, Guro, Byeongjeom 10 Billion Won Jeonse Fraud Victims Countermeasure Committee" held a press conference to call for the revision of the Special Act on Jeonse Fraud and for the government to resolve the issue. (Photo by Yonhap News)

According to the Ministry of Justice on the 30th, from July 2022 to May of this year, a total of 1,630 people were prosecuted in connection with jeonse fraud, of whom 393 were detained. Among them, 15 ringleaders were sentenced to heavy penalties of 10 years or more in prison.

In response to the nationwide jeonse fraud crimes triggered by the so-called "Three Mothers Jeonse Fraud Case" in 2022, the prosecution, police, and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport have established the "Jeonse Fraud Response Council" and are conducting an indefinite nationwide special crackdown on jeonse fraud. The Ministry of Justice has designated 99 dedicated prosecutors and 140 dedicated investigators at 60 offices nationwide, and for large-scale jeonse fraud cases, dedicated investigation teams have been formed and are operating.

In particular, jeonse fraud crimes committed by multiple people in an organized manner are prosecuted not only for fraud but also for "criminal organization offenses." Eight cases, including the so-called "Incheon Construction King Case," are currently on trial for criminal organization offenses. In the Incheon Construction King Case, the maximum statutory sentence of 15 years in prison was imposed due to concurrent offenses.

The Ministry of Justice stated, "We plan to revise related laws and regulations to resolve the contradiction where property crimes with many victims, such as large-scale jeonse fraud, are rather lightly punished."

Since the launch of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, "realizing a society safe from crime" has been promoted as a major national agenda. The government plans to respond strictly not only to jeonse fraud but also to crimes that infringe on people's livelihoods, such as voice phishing and illegal private loans.

In July 2022, the government launched the "Voice Phishing Crime Government Joint Investigation Team," composed of the prosecution, police, Financial Supervisory Service, National Tax Service, Customs Service, and Korea Communications Commission. According to the Ministry of Justice, the number of voice phishing crime cases in 2023 was 18,902 annually, a 39% decrease compared to 30,982 cases in 2021 before the joint investigation team was launched. During the same period, the amount of damage also decreased by 42%, from 774.4 billion won to 447.2 billion won.

Illegal private loan crimes also saw 880 people prosecuted last year alone, an increase of 38.5% compared to the same period the previous year. In the first quarter of this year, 234 people were prosecuted, showing an increasing trend in prosecution and detention rates.

Park Seong-jae, Minister of Justice, said, "It is necessary to concentrate the government's capabilities to strictly punish economic crimes that cause suffering to ordinary people and small business owners," adding, "We will strictly punish crimes that directly harm the public as one team with related agencies and ensure that support for victims is not neglected."