Gyeonggi Province Detects 406 False Real Estate Reporters; 37 Referred for Investigation

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Kim Gap-dong] Gyeonggi Province announced on the 20th that following special investigations into 2,618 suspected cases of false real estate reporting and illegal share transactions in development-plan real estates from February to July this year, it identified 406 individuals who falsely reported real estate transactions for purposes including tax evasion avoidance and imposed administrative fines totaling 864 million won. Among them, 37 people involved in fraudulent transactions, including violations of the Real Estate Brokerage Act, were referred for investigation.

The province classified cases as follows: suspected false reports including unreported up-down contract reports, false reporting of contract dates, sales reports between specially related parties, and cases with unconfirmable transaction amounts; false reports involving money transfer without actual financial transactions, transactions with suspected gifts under funding plan documents; and illegal share transactions in development-plan real estates extracted using Gyeonggi Province's independently developed 'Development-Plan Real Estate Continuous Monitoring System.'

Investigation results showed that 37 people were referred to investigative agencies, including: 32 cases involving 33 individuals who established junior mortgages and similar measures to evade permits despite actual sales contracts being concluded within land transaction permit areas; and 4 cases involving 4 individuals including unqualified brokerage activities and overcharging of brokerage fees in violation of the 'Real Estate Brokerage Act.'

Additionally, the province reported 451 cases to tax authorities requesting tax investigations where no suspicious points were found in transaction documents, but real estate buyers and sellers were confirmed as specially related parties including family and relatives or transactions were reported at unreasonably different prices compared to surrounding market rates. By type: △188 cases of specially related sales △32 cases of suspicious transaction prices △60 cases of unconfirmable transaction amounts △10 cases of asset conversion △161 cases of other suspicious illegal gifting, etc.

The 'Development-Plan Real Estate Continuous Monitoring System' utilized in this investigation tracks typical development-plan real estate transactions by comprehensively analyzing share transaction status, zoning, and transaction frequency relative to time periods based on actual real estate transaction data. These transactions typically involve inflating prices to several times the official land value for forest lands in green belt areas where development is factually difficult, then selling shares to multiple parties within a short period.

Go Jung-guk, director of the province's Land Information Division, said, "We will continue to track suspected illegal real estate cases in the second half of this year and conduct intensive investigations," and "We will make efforts to establish fair and transparent transaction order by imposing administrative measures and referring illegal matters to investigative agencies."