The government, which is promoting the strengthening of penalties for illegal loan finance criminals, such as a maximum of '10 years in prison and a fine of 500 million won', said that it would apply the highest penalties to be strengthened under the lending business law as much as possible to severely punish related criminals.
Eo Cheong-soo, Deputy Minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, noted this during a 'task force (TF) meeting on eradicating illegal loan finance' held near the police civil complaint call center in Mapo-gu, Seoul, on the 17th.
The government decided to strengthen crackdowns and investigations on illegal loan finance and raise the level of punishment through the meeting. Currently, there are dedicated investigation teams for illegal loan finance crimes in 253 police stations nationwide. A revision to the lending business law to increase penalties for crimes related to illegal loan finance passed the National Assembly Political Affairs Committee on the 3rd.
According to the revision, 'unregistered operations' penalties were raised from the existing '5 years in prison and a fine of up to 50 million won' to '10 years in prison and a fine of up to 500 million won'. 'Impersonating government or financial institutions' changed from 'fines of up to 50 million won' to '5 years in prison and a fine of up to 200 million won'.
The government also decided to strengthen blocking measures when illegal financial advertisements are detected. The broadcasting and telecommunications commission will be institutionalized to request immediate correction from private platforms when financial authorities determine that illegal activities are evident.
A legal obligation will also be imposed to prevent customer personal information from being leaked to illegal loan financiers, etc., on online lending brokerage sites. The registration authority for online lending brokerage sites will be adjusted from local governments to the Financial Services Commission, allowing the Financial Supervisory Service to directly perform management and inspection duties.
Discussions were also held on measures to enhance the effectiveness of the 'debtor's representative system', which prohibits direct collection from debtors when a debtor appoints a lawyer to notify the debt collector. The government plans to support the appointment of a debtor's representative even when the creditor is unclear through the legal aid corporation. Additionally, they plan to review measures to complement the grounds for punishment to enable criminal punishment if a collection agency contacts a debtor directly after the appointment of a representative.
Debts, significantly disadvantageous loan contracts concluded with debtors using crimes such as sexual exploitation, injury, assault, or threats, will be invalidated for both principal and interest, ensuring that the full amount is refunded to the victim.
Meanwhile, the meeting was attended by the Financial Services Commission, Ministry of Science and ICT, Ministry of Justice, broadcasting and telecommunications commission, Korean National Police Agency, Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office, National Tax Service, Financial Supervisory Service, and the legal aid corporation.
Deputy Minister Eo said, "Illegal loan finance is a vicious act that seeks to satisfy one's repugnant desires by taking advantage of others' difficult circumstances," and asked for a special effort in public promotion so that the public does not suffer significant harm due to a lack of necessary information.