59 brokers caught taking fees for arranging 500 billion won in policy loans

[Financial News] Police have uncovered a group of brokers who arranged government policy-fund loans for small and medium-sized enterprises and small business owners and pocketed fees totaling tens of billions of won.
On the 12th, police said the Metropolitan Crime Investigation Division of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Metropolitan Investigation Unit sent 59 people, including brokers from more than 30 loan brokerage firms, to the Public Prosecution Office without detention at the end of last month on suspicion of violating the Loan Business Act.
They are suspected of arranging policy-fund loans on behalf of small and medium-sized enterprises and small business owners, including low-interest startup support funds and new-growth foundation funds, and pocketing about 25 billion won by charging success fees of 5–7% of the loan amounts.
The policy-fund loans they arranged were found to total about 500 billion won. The firms were found to have operated by handling loan application procedures, including preparing documents, on behalf of applicants, taking advantage of differences among funding agencies in schedules, eligibility requirements and supporting documents.
The police also sent 12 officials from an education company that taught these loan-brokering methods to the Public Prosecution Office on suspicion of aiding and abetting violations of the Loan Business Act.
The education company was found to have charged about 20 billion won in tuition while teaching the related business methods to around 1,600 students. It charged 15 million won for a nine-week course and 33 million won for a one-on-one mentoring course.
[email protected] Choi Seung-han Reporter