Gyeonggi Province Special Prosecution Team to Root Out Online Illegal Private Lending Exploiting Ordinary Citizens

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hun] Gyeonggi Province is conducting intensive investigations into economic crimes, including online illegal private lending, that are damaging the household finances of ordinary citizens struggling with COVID-19.

Key investigation targets include ▲lending activities by unqualified operators with false registration or operating suspension status ▲lending exceeding the legal maximum interest rate online and offline ▲false or exaggerated advertising on lending platforms.

To this end, the province will organize an online special investigation team (12 members) with the head of the Fair Special Judicial Police Unit as team leader, and plans to hire temporary workers to serve as monitoring personnel.

The province will intensively investigate increasingly sophisticated illegal lending and lending brokerage activities on online lending platforms, and will also monitor online lending sites and cafes to pursue measures such as deletion of posts on illegal lending brokerage sites and site closure. Additionally, the province plans to monitor and address illegal lending activities throughout the year.

Regarding the investigation schedule, the province plans to conduct intensive investigations on overall online illegal private lending by quarter: ▲1st quarter targeting lending brokerage site damage cases for small business owners and housewives ▲2nd quarter targeting illegal lending by unqualified operators with false registration or operating suspension status ▲3rd quarter targeting high-interest collection by registered lending businesses ▲4th quarter targeting lending damage cases from false or exaggerated advertising on lending platforms.

Additionally, the province plans to employ "mystery shopping" investigation techniques to detect illegal lending activities conducted covertly and will work throughout the year to apprehend distributors of illegal advertising flyers.

The "Mobile Illegal Private Lending Damage Counseling Center," first launched by a local government last year, will be expanded to cover vulnerable areas in the province related to illegal private lending, including existing operational areas.

Furthermore, to protect vulnerable financial groups such as low-income and low-credit individuals facing difficulties amid the Gyeonggi economic downturn compounded by COVID-19, the province plans to continue consultations with the Financial Services Commission on institutional improvements including the 10% reduction in the legal maximum interest rate for lending businesses and complete nullification of interest contracts collected by illegal private lending operators, which were prioritized by Gyeonggi Province last year.

Kim Young-soo, head of the Gyeonggi Province Fair Special Judicial Police Unit, stated, "The surge in illegal private lending due to COVID-19 is expected to continue even after the pandemic ends," and added, "We will do our best to make 2021 a starting point for eliminating illegal high-interest private lending online and to protect the socially disadvantaged and create a fair society."

Meanwhile, the Fair Special Judicial Police Unit, established in October 2018 to realize "fair Gyeonggi with no unfair or illegal practices" at the start of the seventh term of elected officials, has been focusing on eliminating illegal private lending such as high-interest usury, and last year detected 46 illegal lending operators including online high-interest illegal lending organizations.

Major detection cases include ▲apprehension of the "Golden Lending Gang," an illegal lending organization with annual interest rates up to an exorbitant 31,000% ▲illegal high-interest lending activities amounting to approximately 9.2 billion won ▲apprehension of illegal high-interest lending operators targeting low-credit ordinary citizens in delivery service work and other fields.

Reports and tips on damage from online illegal lending can be filed through the Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police Unit website (www.gg.go.kr/gg_special_cop) or the KakaoTalk Plus Friend "Gyeonggi Province Fair Special Judicial Police Unit," and can also be reported by calling the Gyeonggi Province Call Center (031-120).