Gyeonggi Special Judicial Police Conduct Intensive Crackdown on Illegal Lending Around Racecourses

The Gyeonggi Provincial Special Judicial Police Unit will conduct a crackdown on illegal lending activities around racetracks in the province until the 12th of next month.

Gyeonggi Province will intensively crack down on illegal lending activities around racetracks within the province.

The Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police announced that from the 20th of this month until the 12th of next month, they will conduct focused crackdowns on sites where illegal lending activities such as unregistered lending, charging high-interest rates, and distributing unregistered lending flyers frequently occur (around racetracks within the province).

The Special Judicial Police have formed a dedicated investigation team and will inspect eight locations starting with the Korea Racing Authority Bundang branch, followed by Suwon, Gwangmyeong, Siheung, Ilsan, Guri, Uijeongbu, and Ansan.

The main crackdown targets include ▲unregistered lending activities ▲high-interest lending exceeding the legal interest rate (20%) ▲distribution of illegal lending advertisements around racetracks.

In addition, the Special Judicial Police will collect illegal advertising flyers from unregistered lenders, such as loan advertisement stickers promising loans at stands selling horse racing newspapers near racetrack entrances and barricades in front of racetracks, as well as on utility poles. They will immediately suspend the use of phone numbers on illegal advertisements and crack down on those distributing flyers.

According to the current "Loan Business Act," those who engage in lending business without registration or advertise lending business without qualification face imprisonment of up to 5 years or a fine of up to 50 million KRW. Those who charge high-interest rates exceeding the legal limit face imprisonment of up to 3 years or a fine of up to 30 million KRW.

A Gyeonggi Province official stated, "There are many cases where illegal fee extortion occurs by easily lending money and charging high interest, causing many victims," and added, "We expect that proactive measures to block the vicious cycle of illegal private financing damage will minimize harm."

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