118 Detained and 224.6 Billion KRW of Criminal Proceeds Frozen
[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Jo] The police arrested 4,690 people and detained 118 last year as a result of intensive crackdowns on financial crimes infringing on people's livelihoods, such as illegal private loans, fraudulent fundraising, and illegal multi-level marketing. They also took preservation measures to prevent the disposal of criminal proceeds amounting to 224.6 billion KRW.
The National Investigation Headquarters of the Korean National Police Agency announced on the 9th that these results were achieved through a 10-month crackdown on financial crimes infringing on people's livelihoods conducted from March to December last year. By crime type, in the crackdown on illegal private loans, 2,085 people were arrested, a 16% increase compared to 2021, and 22 were detained. Earlier, from August last year, the police conducted an intensive crackdown on the three major illegal private loan methods: burner phones, burner bank accounts, and illegal distribution of personal information, arresting 808 people. Unregistered lending companies that lent money to victims in need of living expenses and then extorted repayment amounts dozens of times higher through various threats were the main targets of arrests.
In the crackdown on fraudulent fundraising and illegal multi-level marketing, 2,152 people were arrested and 59 detained. The number of arrests increased by 25% compared to 2021. The crimes were mainly committed by luring victims to invest in virtual assets, then absconding after stealing the investment funds. In October last year, the Guro Police Station in Seoul arrested 10 people, including the CEO of a coin issuing company, who deceived 112 investors by promising principal and 4% interest if they invested in coins usable for various utility bill payments, embezzling 27.7 billion KRW, and detained 2 of them.
Since last year, in the separate management of results for crackdowns on unfair trading practices and illegal investment companies, 453 people were arrested and 37 detained. The Financial Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency arrested 58 members of an investment fraud organization in October last year, who deceived 1,246 investors by falsely claiming that stocks were about to be listed, embezzling 19.3 billion KRW, and detained 14 of them.
The police forecast that financial crimes infringing on people's livelihoods will increase as investment sentiment revives and investment briefings become frequent following the lifting of the indoor mask mandate. Accordingly, they plan to continue intensive crackdowns from March this year. A representative of the National Investigation Headquarters of the Korean National Police Agency urged caution, saying, "As the economic downturn deepens, various financial crimes targeting living expenses are likely to occur nationwide and in an organized manner."
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