A man in his 40s who impersonated an investment attraction advisor of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) and swindled 20 billion won from over 100 people was sentenced to a heavy prison term again in the appellate court.
According to the legal community on the 25th, the Seoul High Court Criminal Division 13 (Presiding Judges Baek Gang-jin, Kim Seon-hee, and Lee In-su) sentenced Seo (46), who was arrested and indicted on charges including fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, to 20 years in prison on the 21st. In the first trial, he was sentenced to 20 years and 10 months, but the sentence was partially reduced in the appellate court.
The court stated, "The method of crime was very malicious, such as short-term leasing of houses using forged LH-named contracts to have some victims move in," adding, "However, considering that accomplices recruited many victims to obtain commissions, which may have expanded the damage."
Earlier, Seo was prosecuted on charges of embezzling 20 billion won from over 100 people from April 2021 to June last year under the pretext of down payments and other fees. He deceived victims by claiming that, as an LH investment attraction advisor, "with a recommendation letter from the advisor, you can receive a special supply of an apartment worth about 3 billion won in the Gangnam area for 700 million won." Prosecutors' investigation revealed that Seo had no connection with LH.
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