A 50-Year-Old Woman Sentenced to Actual Imprisonment for False Registration to Win Housing Subscription
The Gwangju District Court has sentenced a 50-year-old woman to actual imprisonment for falsely registering her residence in order to win a subscription for a newly built apartment.
The woman claimed she was a "weekend couple" and asserted her innocence, but the court determined based on evidence that she had no intention of actually residing there.
On the 23rd, Judge Jang Chan-soo of the Gwangju District Court's Criminal Division 3 sentenced Ms. A (50, female) to four months in prison on charges of violating the Resident Registration Act and the Housing Act.
Ms. A is accused of falsely registering her residency in two locations in Cheongju City in January 2021 and February 2022 to win a subscription for a newly built apartment in Cheongbuk.
The apartment in question granted subscription qualifications only to residents of Cheongju or Chungbuk, and particularly provided priority to those who had resided in Cheongju for over one year prior to January 26, 2021.
Ms. A reported her first residency in Cheongju on January 25, 2021, in accordance with this requirement, and won the subscription for the apartment, which is set to be occupied in 2023, even signing a sales contract.
Court: "Clear Evidence of Living in Gwangju… Unconvincing Excuses"
During the trial, Ms. A claimed that she had been living as a weekend couple with her husband, who works in Cheongju, and bought the house with the intent to actually reside there. However, upon reviewing various evidence including Ms. A's residence, workplace, and credit card usage, the court concluded that she had continually lived in Gwangju.
Judge Jang Chan-soo pointed out, "If the defendant's assertion were true, there would be no one to care for the children residing in Gwangju," adding, "Even reviewing the 130 instances of medical care benefits received from the National Health Insurance Corporation, all of them were for treatments received in Gwangju, and there are no records of credit card usage in Cheongju."
Furthermore, the court noted, "The defendant was employed in Gwangju and all necessary documents for subscription were issued in Gwangju," indicating that the defendant's consistent reliance on implausible excuses revealed an unwillingness to show repentance, and this was considered in determining the sentence.
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