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The Busan Police Agency announced on the 31st that they have arrested an illegal loan sharking organization with annual interest rates reaching 40,000%. This organization had been conducting illegal loans by threatening victims and using their nude photos as collateral. A total of 29 individuals were arrested on charges of organized crime and violations of the Money Lending Business Act, with 12 of them being detained.
According to investigations, from July 2023 to December of last year, they organized an illegal loan sharking crime group in Daegu and are suspected of illegally lending approximately 1.4 billion won to 558 individuals using 40,501 pieces of personal information. Most of the victims were young adults in their 20s and 30s, particularly those in financially vulnerable situations, and they conducted loans using personal information collected through platforms like Telegram.
In particular, they demanded nude photos and videos as collateral from victims when providing loans and threatened to distribute these to their family or acquaintances if the victims failed to repay the money. The police seized 42 million won of their criminal proceeds and preserved assets worth 240 million won, including luxury foreign cars and bank deposits. The police stated that they plan to strengthen crackdowns on illegal loan sharking and expand support for victims.