This screengrab from a JTBC report shows a car with a fake paper license plate attached on top of its original vehicle registration plate.

A resident of an apartment complex in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, was caught using a fake license plate made of paper to cover the license plate of his or her second car, a local media outlet reported recently.

According to the JTBC report, a BMW sedan with a license plate made of paper was spotted by another resident of the apartment complex. The person who found the paper plate reported the case to police and confirmed that the car belonged to another resident of the building.

The BMW owner had a car registered in the apartment's system, but printed out the number of the registered car on a piece of paper to attach to the existing license plate of the second car, presumably to avoid paying the fee imposed on extra cars. The apartment complex in question allows each household to park one car for free, but requires an additional fee of 10,000 won ($7.20) for one extra car and 100,000 won for two extra cars.

The identity of the car's owner has been withheld.

Tampering with a license plate is punishable by law. Article 10-5 of the Motor Vehicle Management Act states that one shall not cover a registration license plate or make it illegible, and that cars with such license plates shall not be operated. Those violating the clause can be punished with up to a 10 million won fine or one year in prison.