"Give me the money" 20s sentenced for lending to 600 people and collecting high-interest rates

[Financial News] An illegal loan group that lent money at high interest rates to hundreds of people and engaged in threatening collections was sentenced to prison in the first trial.
Seoul Western District Court Criminal Division 8 (Presiding Judge Lee Se-chang) sentenced Mr. A (26) and Mr. B (28), who were charged with violating the Act on the Regulation and Punishment of Concealment of Criminal Proceeds, to 1 year and 6 months in prison each and ordered Mr. A to forfeit approximately 650 million won and Mr. B to forfeit 28 million won. The prosecution had previously sought 5 years and 4 years in prison, respectively.
They were indicted and detained for lending about 1 billion won to 667 victims in 1,741 instances from last year to March this year and collecting 1.7 billion won in excess of the legal maximum interest rate (annual 20%). It was also confirmed that they operated an unregistered loan business and collected high-interest rates amounting to 680 million won through threatening messages and repeated illegal collections from debtors.
The court noted, "The defendants admitted to all charges by the prosecution," and pointed out, "The period and frequency of the crime, the scale of interest, and the repeated illegal collections from numerous debtors make the crime serious." However, it explained the sentencing reasons by considering that "they reached an agreement with about 370 victims and showed remorse by admitting their crimes."

425_sama@fnnews.com Choi Seung-han Reporter