Up to 5,000% Interest in Illegal Private Lending
Organized Crime Leads to Prison Sentences for 12 Members Following Ringleader "Kang Manager"
The illegal private lending organization known as the "Kang Manager" gang, which engaged in predatory lending with annual interest rates exceeding 5,000% and violent debt collection practices, has been sentenced to prison in large numbers. The court pointed out that they made substantial illicit profits through illegal operations targeting ordinary people in urgent need of cash.
According to Yonhap News Agency on January 18, the Cheongju District Court Criminal Division 2 (Presiding Judge Shin Yoonju) sentenced 12 members of the organization, including collection team leader A (in their 20s), to prison terms ranging from four months with one year of probation to up to two years in prison, on charges of joining a criminal organization and violating the Act on Registration of Credit Business and Protection of Finance Users.
From December 2021 for about one year, they operated an unregistered lending business as part of a private loan organization established by the ringleader known as "Kang Manager," serving as the collection team. The gang lent between 180 million won and 1.56 billion won to victims in a total of 3,957 transactions, charging interest rates ranging from a minimum of 1,203% up to a maximum of 5,214% per year.
If victims were late in repaying principal and interest, members of the organization threatened them by saying things like "I will go to your family member's workplace" or "I will ruin your parents' farm," and in some cases, they called family members directly, threatening, "If you don't pay back instead, I will kill your entire family." The court found that, although there was no physical harm, the victims suffered significant psychological and economic pressure during this process.
The organization operated meticulously, with members concealing their identities and issuing work instructions via burner phones. They also obtained more than 10 contact numbers of victims' family members and acquaintances, as well as photos of the victims' faces as a condition for loans, using this information as leverage during collection. To evade investigation, they would park their cars 3 kilometers away from their homes and walk home after work, and had a system in place for sending coded messages to superiors in case of arrest.
In the verdict, Presiding Judge Shin noted, "By exploiting the victims' financial difficulties and imposing extremely high interest rates, the defendants damaged the livelihoods of ordinary people and had a negative impact on society as a whole," but also explained that the court took into account some defendants' remorse and whether they were first-time offenders.
Previously, the ringleader "Kang Manager" was indicted on charges of criminal organization activity and violating the Credit Business Act, and in an appellate trial in 2024, was sentenced to seven years and eight months in prison and fined 50 million won.
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