Gyeonggi-do Cracks Down on Illegal High-Interest Private Loans... Year-Round Enforcement

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province will conduct year-round crackdowns on economic crimes such as illegal high-interest lending.

The Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police Unit for Fairness announced on the 16th that it will carry out focused crackdowns on economic crimes such as illegal high-interest lending that harm low-income households and illegally appropriate private profits through illegal private loans.

The main investigation targets are ▲ unregistered lending activities targeting socially and economically vulnerable groups such as low-credit individuals, job seekers, and housewives ▲ lending activities exceeding the legal maximum interest rate of 24% per annum ▲ distribution of illegal loan advertisements around major commercial areas and traditional markets.

In particular, investigative efforts will focus on illegal lending and illegal loan brokerage activities online targeting socially and economically vulnerable groups such as small business owners, traditional market merchants, housewives, and university students.

The province will also operate on-site consultation centers if necessary.

Investigations will be conducted quarterly. The quarterly focus areas are ▲ 1st quarter: high-interest interest collection targeting traditional market merchants and housewives ▲ 2nd quarter: damage cases targeting university students and small business owners near universities ▲ 3rd quarter: unregistered lending and illegal loan brokerage activities online using the internet and mobile devices ▲ 4th quarter: receiving reports of illegal loan damage cases mainly at places with a high proportion of low-income floating populations such as free meal centers and subway stations.

The province will hire 32 temporary workers to collect flyers mainly in areas where flyer distribution is frequent, and will use the 'mystery shopping' investigation technique to arrest distributors who indiscriminately distribute illegal advertising flyers throughout the year. The scope of investigations will also expand beyond high-interest and unregistered illegal lending to include debt transfer and debt collection agency activities.

In response to criticism that penalties for illegal lending are weaker than the profits gained from illegal operations, the province plans to propose to the Financial Services Commission a significant strengthening of criminal penalties for illegal lenders from the current "imprisonment of up to 5 years or a fine of up to 50 million KRW" to "imprisonment of up to 10 years or a fine of up to 300 million KRW."

Kim Young-soo, head of the Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police Unit for Fairness, promised, "We will make 2020 the inaugural year to eradicate illegal private loans through a war against illegal high-interest private loans," and added, "We will steadfastly protect the socially vulnerable and work to create a fair society."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.