Gyeonggi Special Judicial Police, 'High-Intensity Investigation' of Illegal Private Loans This Year

Gyeonggi Province operates the "Visiting Illegal Private Loan Damage Counseling Center" annually. Photo by Gyeonggi Provincial Government

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province will conduct intensive crackdowns this year on illegal high-interest lending and proxy deposits targeting small business owners and micro-entrepreneurs to eradicate illegal private financing.

The Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police for Fairness announced on the 18th that this year they will carry out comprehensive activities to eliminate illegal private financing, including ▲focused investigations on unregistered lending activities targeting university students and job seekers, and illegal online proxy deposits (January to May) ▲investigations into illegal high-interest loans targeting small business owners and micro-entrepreneurs (July to October) ▲year-round crackdowns on new online fraudulent methods in collaboration with related government agencies ▲expansion and strengthening of the 'Visiting Illegal Private Financing Damage Counseling Center' to secure leads for prevention activities and investigations.

In particular, a 'field-centered investigation' method will be introduced during the investigation process. Field-centered investigation is a method where, after securing investigation leads through focused monitoring of victims who report or provide tips, investigators immediately visit the victims to take their statements.

The Special Judicial Police achieved results by apprehending 194 illegal lenders, including online high-interest illegal lending organizations, from 2019 to 2022. Major cases include ▲the arrest of the 'Hwanggeum Daebu faction,' an illegal lending organization charging a brutal annual interest rate of up to 31,000% ▲illegal high-interest lending activities involving approximately 9.2 billion KRW ▲the arrest of 14 individuals involved in illegal proxy deposit lending targeting youth.

Kim Kwang-deok, head of the Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police for Fairness, emphasized, "Economic crimes targeting socially vulnerable people pushed to the brink by high interest rates are expected to continue increasing," adding, "We plan to strictly investigate illegal acts to protect the socially vulnerable and eradicate illegal private financing."