Chapter 551: Park Sang-Gyu (5)
The small director's office in Hope Hospital contained only an old table and a worn-out sofa.
Seo Hwan-Hee, who made coffee himself, began explaining the situation surrounding the hospital's land sale. "My childhood friend Kim Chang-Soo is handling the contract on my behalf. He knew the hospital was struggling and found a buyer for the land. But he said a garbage incineration plant is going to be built nearby soon, so we need to sell quickly. He warned that if we wait, the land price could drop from 2 million won per pyeong to under two hundred thousand won."
Hope Hospital owned a total of five thousand pyeong of land, including the open lot behind the hospital. With a market price of around 2 million won per pyeong, the expected sale price was approximately 10 billion won.
However, hearing that the land value might drop to one-tenth made Seo Hwan-Hee panic as he had been covering the hospital's losses by selling land for years. To make things worse, the bank had refused to extend their loan just a week ago. So, in a rush, he had signed a provisional contract yesterday with 10 percent of the price, a billion won, as the down payment.
The whole thing felt like a scam, and I couldn't help but let out a hollow laugh. "I think your friend and the bank colluded to deceive you, sir."
It was clear that a real estate agent who got wind of the development plans and the bank were working together to swindle an innocent landowner. And since any deal becomes binding once stamped, it would be tricky to accuse them of fraud. As for the bank employee, they could simply claim they applied strict loan standards.
At that moment, Seo Hwan-Hee leaned back on the sofa and let out a sigh. "That bastard Chang-Soo... doing something like this... Sigh... Unbelievable..."
Seo Hwan-Hee had dedicated his life to the hospital and patient care, so he lacked real estate knowledge. Now betrayed by a friend he had known since they were seven, his face looked devastated.
"I can't believe I couldn't see through someone after all these years. I'm ashamed."
"You can still set things right. And since Daeheung Savings Bank offered to help, this is a good chance to switch loans too."
Since the realtor and the bank were clearly in cahoots, switching the loan was the first step.