Illegal lending ringleader orders members to "deny conspiracy"... Caught by prosecution after police drop charges

[Financial News] The ringleader of an unregistered illegal lending business who profited hundreds of millions of won and then instructed his members to make false statements denying their involvement in the conspiracy, along with the lawyer who assisted him, have been brought to trial. The ringleader, who had received a decision not to prosecute during the police investigation, was arrested and indicted after supplementary investigations by the prosecution revealed circumstances indicating that the members' statements were false.
According to the legal community on the 10th, the Seoul Northern District Public Prosecutors' Office Trial Division (acting chief prosecutor Woo Man-woo) arrested and indicted A (36), the ringleader of an illegal lending business, on charges of violating the Lending Business Act. They also recently indicted lawyer B (44) and members of the lending business C (36), D (37), and E (37) without detention on charges of instigating perjury. H (37), who was registered as a lender under the name of the illegal lending business, was also summarily indicted on charges of aiding and abetting violations of the Lending Business Act. Members F (36) and G (36) received a suspended indictment for perjury.
Mr. A is accused of operating an unregistered illegal lending business from February 2020 to June 2021, lending approximately 400 million won to 161 debtors on a total of 1,130 occasions through organization members Mr. C to Mr. G, and receiving repayments of approximately 700 million won in excess of the interest rate limit.
It was found that A and B instructed their gang members to deny their involvement in the conspiracy during the police investigation to prevent additional crimes from being revealed through the members' statements. They induced organized false statements by having C through G each claim to have "operated the lending business independently," and based on these statements, A received a decision not to prosecute from the police.
However, in the process of maintaining the indictment for a case in which only some of the accomplices were charged, the prosecution presented evidence supporting the conspiracy and conducted supplementary investigations into the organization members. As a result, it was found that some members admitted that their previous statements were false and confessed to their conspiracy with Mr. A.
Subsequently, the prosecution additionally confirmed the involvement of Mr. A, who had been given a decision not to be indicted by the police, arrested him, and uncovered charges of instigating false statements by accomplices. According to the prosecution, Mr. A appointed Mr. B as the joint defense counsel for all members of the organization and thoroughly managed the members to ensure they gave false testimony in court.
It was found that B held one-on-one meetings with them on several occasions to prepare for witness questioning and specifically instructed them to commit perjury, saying, "If you admit to conspiracy, you could face heavy punishment," "You must testify that you committed the crime alone," and "Testify exactly as you said during the police investigation." Accordingly, C through G appeared as witnesses in court from December 2025 to June of this year and gave false testimony, claiming that they "operated the lending business alone, unrelated to A."
The prosecution plans to take measures to recover the 100 million won in profits obtained by Mr. A through illegal lending business by applying the Confiscation of Corrupt Assets Act during the upcoming trial and return them to the victim. A prosecution official stated, "We will do our best to establish a judicial order that the public can trust."
[email protected] Seo Ji-yoon Reporter