Supreme Court Confirms 7-Year Prison Sentence for 'Jeonse Fraud Construction King' Owning Over 2,700 Houses

First Trial Sentenced to 15 Years, Reduced to 7 Years on Appeal...
Only Deposits Taken After Financial Trouble Recognized as Fraud
Two Other Fraud Trials Still Underway

The sentence of 7 years in prison was confirmed for the 'Incheon Jeonse Fraud Construction King' who was prosecuted for a Jeonse fraud amounting to 14.8 billion KRW.

On the 23rd, the Supreme Court's 1st Division (Presiding Justice Seo Kyung-hwan) upheld the original court ruling that sentenced Nam Mo to 7 years in prison on charges including fraud. The Supreme Court also confirmed the second trial ruling that acquitted or gave suspended prison sentences to nine accomplices, including licensed real estate agents and brokerage assistants, who were prosecuted on the same charges.

The Supreme Court stated, "There is no error in the original court’s judgment in that it did not conduct the necessary trial for judgment, exceeded the limits of free evaluation of evidence, or misinterpreted the legal principles regarding fraud and other charges."

Nam Mo and others, whose punishment was confirmed, were prosecuted on charges of embezzling 14.8 billion KRW in Jeonse deposits from tenants for 191 apartments and villas in the Michuhol-gu area of Incheon from March 2021 to July 2022. In the first trial, Nam Mo was sentenced to the maximum statutory penalty for fraud, 15 years in prison, and approximately 11.5 billion KRW was confiscated. The accomplices were also sentenced to prison terms ranging from 4 to 13 years.

However, in the second trial, only 6.8 billion KRW of the 14.8 billion KRW fraud amount was recognized, and the sentence was reduced to 7 years in prison. The court considered only the deposits received after January 2022, when Nam Mo was presumed to have become aware of his deteriorating financial situation, as subject to fraud charges. For the accomplices, only the payments received after May 2022, when they became aware of Nam Mo’s financial condition, were considered as fraud. The Supreme Court also accepted the second trial’s judgment.

Previously, Nam Mo was called the construction king as he owned about 2,700 apartments and officetels in Incheon and Gyeonggi-do areas. However, he did not return the deposits received from tenants, and between February and May 2023, four victims who did not receive their Jeonse deposits back from Nam Mo and his accomplices died consecutively.

Nam Mo is also on trial for other cases, including a Jeonse fraud case amounting to 30.5 billion KRW prosecuted in June 2023 and a Jeonse deposit fraud case amounting to 8.3 billion KRW.