[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province is launching an intensive investigation into illegal activities related to stocks and virtual currencies, which have recently shown signs of overheating.
The Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police for Fairness announced on the 21st that it will focus on investigating coin sales using pseudo-multilevel marketing organizations, false and exaggerated advertisements by financial product advisory firms such as stock leading chat rooms.
The main investigation targets are ▲coin sales using pseudo-multilevel marketing organizations or monetary transactions without actual goods being traded ▲virtual asset investment companies advertising guaranteed high returns with promising coins ▲obstruction of subscription withdrawal by membership-based financial product advisory firms ▲recruitment of members and unfair trade contracts by financial product advisory firms using false and exaggerated advertisements ▲selling health functional foods, cosmetics, medical devices, etc., without registering multilevel marketing business with the Fair Trade Commission or the relevant city/province.
The special judicial police believe that unlisted coin sales companies are causing financial damage to ordinary citizens by recruiting members with false advertisements such as enticing them with promises of making a lot of money once unlisted coins are listed or offering commissions for introducing others.
They also confirmed that financial advisory firms operating 'stock leading chat rooms' lure participants to pay high usage fees amounting to millions of won by presenting baseless performance claims, and then unfairly gain profits by delaying or refusing refunds when requested.
According to the current 'Act on Door-to-Door Sales, etc.', establishing, managing, or operating an unregistered multilevel marketing organization or forming a multilevel marketing organization solely for monetary transactions without trading goods is punishable by up to 7 years imprisonment or a fine of up to 200 million won.
The special judicial police will promote the payment of public interest whistleblower rewards in consultation with the provincial investigation office based on the results of reports.
Kim Young-su, head of the Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police for Fairness, said, "Illegal multilevel marketing operations are conducted thoroughly in secret, making it difficult to find clues," and urged, "Since many reports serve as the foundation for creating a fair society, we ask for active interest and reporting."
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