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Korean students in the U.K. have fallen victim to a visa, and rental scam that cost them an estimated 100,000 pounds (W1.8 billion) altogether. To add insult to financial injury, one group were evicted from their homes and found themselves suddenly illegal aliens. In 2004 another group of Korean students was defrauded of a large sum for tuition at a private institute in an incident that is still under investigation.
The Korean Embassy in the U.K. on Sunday said 40 students who were staying in popular North London locations for student accommodation -- Golders Green, Swiss Cottage and Edgware Road -- had been cheated out of deposits and monthly rent by a man being identified as Lee (30). Lee rented 10 houses and sublet them to overseas students but fled with the money on Oct. 28. In the U.K. many students live in sublet rooms in a house to save money without a formal contract which leaves them with no legal recourse when things go wrong.
Some of the students were evicted due to the delayed rent payments. One 22-year-old student said, ¡°At the beginning of the month, the landlord asked me to move out because I hadn¡¯t paid the rent. I found out that Lee didn¡¯t give the rent of 540 pounds I gave him to the landlord, and he ran away with 1,040 pounds. I was upset, but there was no choice but to move.¡± Some victims gave Lee three to six month¡¯s rent at once, so the total amount of damages related to just rental fees is over 50,000 pounds (W90 million). Lee is also accused of cheating several students out of 3,000 to 6,000 pounds each for supposedly handling their school registration.
Among the victims was one person who had known Lee for 10 years. ¡°I was cheated out of 6,500 pounds including 5,000 pounds for tuition at my university and 1,500 for the room,¡± one 26-year old who requested anonymity said. ¡°It¡¯s difficult for my family to send large sums of money out of Korea, so I¡¯m asking the school to allow me to pay in installments.¡± Lee allegedly absconded with the passports of half a dozen students he had defrauded out of money for handling their visa extensions. Another 26-year-old victim said Lee told him he needed to register with an overseas students agency to extend his visa. ¡°I handed over 2,750 pounds including visa fees of 250 pounds and tuition fees of 2,500 pounds,¡± he said. ¡°The money was stolen, but what¡¯s worse is that the passport is gone and I¡¯ve now been staying in the U.K. illegally for over two months.¡±
The embassy expects damage may be much greater since some students probably did not report their losses. Lee is thought to be on the run in Thailand after hiding out in the U.K. till the end of October. ¡°Lee is accused of another case of fraud in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, so we arranged for a search and arrest warrant,¡± the embassy said. ¡°We asked the U.K. police to arrest him on re-entry.¡± The mission urged Koreans to check the details of any sublease document, and if at all possible handle registration for language centers or universities on their own, and apply for visas on their own or through reputable registration agencies.¡±
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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