[Exclusive] 'Charter fraud' started in Hwagok-dong in 2015, but could have been stopped...

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We will deliver our exclusive coverage of the forces behind the charter fraud case where the number of victims is increasing.

Mr. Kim, who died after owning more than 1,000 villas, has hardly been revealed until now.

However, as a result of covering Mr. Kim's past activities, it was confirmed that he was involved with a person who had already committed a charter scam in Hwagok-dong, Gangseo-gu, Seoul a few years ago.

First, this is reporter Jo Yoon-ha's exclusive report.

<Reporter Cho Yun-ha>

A cafe in Hwagok-dong, Gangseo-gu, Seoul.

There was real estate here four years ago, and it turned out that Mr. Kim, the king of villas who died after owning more than 1,000 villas, worked here as a brokerage assistant.

Who was the real estate representative with Mr. Kim?

[Nearby shop owner: At first, I couldn't even sign a contract, there was no one.

One day, people suddenly said that they were renting a villa, and people started to crowd it.

As a result of the

SBS coverage, it was revealed that the real estate representative was Mr. Jo, a real estate agent who was handed over to trial without detention last week.

Since 2015, eight years ago, Mr. Cho has already used the method of putting the boss in front of the gap investment without capital.

At the time, we checked the four people whose names went up to the villa in Hwagok-dong, and one of them was Mr. Kang Mo, the original villa king, who was arrested last month, and he is the person who played the role of Mr. Cho's boss.

[Mr. A/Victim of charter fraud: He kept recommending me that it would be better to sign a contract with ○○ Kang.

(When I found out it was a scam) I fell down on the way because I was in the early stages of pregnancy.

get your legs loose

I think of this every day and go to sleep while taking headache medicine...

.]

[Mr. B/Victim of charter fraud: It felt like ○○ Jo planned everything, and in fact, I don't remember ○○ Kang's voice.

I think that Mr. Jo ○○ set the stage.] In

fact, Mr. Jo led the charter scam from behind the scenes, and Mr. Kim, the so-called second-generation, deceased villa king, copied the scam method as it was while working under Mr. Cho.

The fact that Hwagok-dong became the source of charter scams was largely influenced by the first generation who built their foundation here.

[Mr. B/Victim of charter fraud: When it broke out in 2019, it was actually the villa kings. Then there were more.

When asked about the facts, Mr. Cho hung up the phone, saying, "I don't know anything.

"

(Video coverage: Park Hyeon-cheol · Cho Chang-hyun, video editing: Lee Seung-jin, CG: Choi Jae-young · Jegal-chan, VJ: Kim Sang-hyeok)

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As you can see, people who have already suffered from charter fraud in 2019, filed a complaint with the police at the time. paid

However, it took three more years for the suspects to be handed over to trial, and some charges even exceeded the statute of limitations.

While the investigation was getting longer, another charter scam was starting.

Reporter Jeong Ban-seok covered this story exclusively.

<Reporter Jeong Ban-seok>

It was in August 2019 that the victims of Kang Mo, the original villa king, and Jo Mo, a realtor who received a large amount of rebate from the builder, filed a complaint with the police.

A year later, they were sent to the prosecution, but were indicted only on the 4th, two years and four months later.

It's been 3 years and 5 months since the complaint, but the arrest warrant for Mr. Cho has been dismissed.

The prosecution is in the position that it took time to investigate additional cases of damage, but the victims suffered greatly as the investigation was slow.

[Mr. A/Victim of charter fraud: No matter how much you ask, 'investigation is under way'.

Only the investigator keeps changing, and only the prosecutor keeps changing.

'The prosecutor's office has changed' text messages just keep coming.]

[Attorney Shin Joong-kwon/Charter Victim's Representative: There is something that can be confirmed by the prosecution.

It was concentrated in December (last year).]

In particular, it was confirmed that the realtor, Mr. Cho, was not charged with violating the Realtor Act when he was prosecuted this time.

The prosecution's explanation is that the brokerage fee was not overpaid for receiving the rebate, but in May of last year, the statute of limitations for this charge has already passed and it is no longer possible to examine it.

[Attorney Shin Joong-kwon/Charter Victim's Representative: The law clearly states that it is illegal to receive more than a legal fee regardless of the name.

Now, after the statute of limitations has passed, 'I was supposed to be innocent', is this what you mean?]

In the meantime, Mr. Cho continued his activities, such as buying a commercial building in Hwagok-dong last year while continuing to maintain his license as a real estate agent.

[Seungnam Kim/Member of the Democratic Party of Korea: There was an aspect in which the police or prosecutors responded lukewarmly.

If the punishment had been strong, perhaps this kind of damage would have been minimized...

.]

The result of leaving the initial charter fraud case in Hwagok-dong unattended for more than three years was the appearance of villa kings across the country and the charter fraud crisis.

(Video coverage: Park Hyeon-cheol · Yang Doo-won, video editing: Lee Seung-jin, CG: Ryu Sang-soo · Lee Jun-ho)

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Reporter Jeong Ban-seok, who is focusing on the charter fraud case, is with me.

[Reporter Jeong Ban-seok: 7 out of 10 charter scam victims are newcomers in their 20s and 30s.

Since I don't have a lot of money saved up, I prefer areas that are clean but cheap and have convenient transportation.

Hwagok-dong, which has fewer redevelopment and reconstruction elements, has many new villas, but has a low deposit for charter, so it has the conditions to attract them.

In addition, since the second half of 2015, the government has implemented a policy to reduce the tax burden of rental businesses.

The first-generation charter scammers we reported bought numerous villas by taking advantage of this government policy, and hundreds of people cried at this same trick.

How many such victims are concentrated in Hwagok-dong, 4 out of 10 cases of charter deposit non-return accidents that occurred in Seoul last year occurred in Hwagok-dong.]

[Reporter Jeong Ban-seok: As you saw earlier, it took three years and five months for the victims to file a complaint and for the prosecution to prosecute.

An arrest warrant was requested only at the end of last year, when charter fraud became a major issue due to a drop in real estate prices.

Some of the charges have passed the statute of limitations, so it seems difficult to avoid criticism for not being investigated behind the scenes.

According to our coverage, among the first-generation charter scammers, there are still some who have not been punished for charter fraud.

I need to speed up the investigation to prevent the mass production of additional victims.]

(Video editing: Lee Seung-jin, CG: Choi Jae-young)