Forcing to Borrow Gambling Game Money
Ultimately Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison for Violating the Loan Business Act
An 'MZ gangster' who engaged in illegal lending and repeatedly extorted and threatened a self-employed person unable to repay private loans exceeding 1500% interest was sentenced to prison.
In December last year, the police arrested MZ gangsters who engaged in illegal lending to acquaintances, charging an exorbitant interest rate of 1560%. The photo shows a group picture taken by the suspects during an outing. [Image source=Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency]
On the 10th, Judge Lee Jong-min of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 3 sentenced Lee (28), who was arrested and indicted for violating the Loan Business Act and joint extortion and joint confinement under the Act on the Punishment of Violent Crimes, to five years in prison. Three others in their 20s and 30s who committed the crimes together received suspended sentences ranging from one year to one year and six months.
Previously, Lee was tried on charges including lending a total of approximately 277 million won without registration as a loan business 126 times until November 2022, such as lending 2 million won to victim A in October 2020 with the demand to repay with 30% interest within six days. When A, whose self-employed business was struggling due to COVID-19, could not bear the interest rate reaching 1560% per annum, Lee threatened, saying, "I will find your girlfriend and sell her to an island," and "I will cut your Achilles tendon and make you disabled."
In May last year, Lee also forced A to borrow game money from an online gambling site operated by the organization. Later, after finding A who was in hiding, Lee threatened, "If you don't want to become disabled, pay the money," and "I know your girlfriend's name and your mother's name. Shall we have a funeral today?" The police rescued A after receiving a report, but Lee even called his associates to cause a disturbance trying to take A away from the police station where A was being protected.
In August and October last year, Lee also extorted about 7 million won from other victims by calling them and saying he was being chased by the police and demanding money to hire a lawyer. In 2022, when three peers refused his request to lend money, he threatened to stab their chests, ears, and eyes. Furthermore, Lee and others flaunted their affiliation with a well-known gangster organization in Seoul by revealing tattoos and posting group photos on social networking services (SNS), boasting that they belonged to this organization.
The court explained the sentence given to Lee, stating, "The nature of the crime is extremely bad, and there are multiple prior convictions for similar offenses, showing a weak sense of lawfulness. It is necessary to isolate him from society for a considerable period to protect society from similar crimes and for the defendant's reformation and rehabilitation."
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