Real Estate Lecturer Arrested for 12.5 Billion Won Auction Scam

A real estate lecturer in his 50s, who operated a real estate YouTube channel and an auction academy, has been arrested for swindling a total of 12.5 billion won in investments from students and others.

Gyeonggi Bundang Police Station announced that it sent a man in his 50s, surnamed A, to prosecutors under detention on October 30 on charges of fraud and 유사수신 (engaging in illegal fundraising activities without a license).

A is known to have gathered investors from January 2019 to July of this year by claiming, "If you invest in the fund I operate, I will generate profits through real estate auctions and return the principal along with fixed returns."

A is accused of embezzling approximately 12.5 billion won from 126 victims, including his academy students, using this method.

The investment per victim is known to range from as little as 10 million won to over 500 million won.

Investigations revealed that A had previously made a name for himself as a real estate investment expert by appearing on TV programs, and he used the trust built with students from his YouTube channel and auction academy to solicit investments.

In addition to the cases filed by victims, police estimate that the money A received from investors over a period of about seven years reaches the 40-billion-won range.

Police stated that most of the received funds were used for Ponzi-style payouts (paying older investors with money from new investors), while some were used for personal expenses or purchasing buildings under corporate names.

However, as new investments dwindled this year and he became unable to return the principal and profits, complaints poured in, ultimately leading to his arrest by the police.

Police have applied for a preservation of provisional seizure for approximately 8.2 billion won in criminal proceeds and are further investigating whether academy and corporate affiliates were complicit in the crime.

(Reported by Yeo Hyeon-gyo | Video by Lee Seung-hee | Photo courtesy of Gyeonggi Bundang Police Station | Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.