A loan shark who lent money to a single mother in her 30s at murderous interest rates and drove her to death through persistent threats using illegal means has been sentenced to prison.
Judge Kim Hoe-geun of the 12th Criminal Division at Seoul Northern District Court on Thursday sentenced a man surnamed Kim to four years in prison on charges including violations of the Lending Business Act, the Debt Collection Act, the Electronic Financial Transactions Act, the Telecommunications Business Act and the Act on Regulation and Punishment of Criminal Proceeds Concealment. The court also ordered forfeiture of 7.17 million won ($5,300). Kim was immediately taken into custody in the courtroom. A bail decision granted in June last year was also revoked.
Explaining the sentencing, the court said, "The series of actions the defendant took in the process of collecting debts were harsh enough to influence a person to give up on life," adding that "stern accountability must be imposed." The court further rebuked, "Most debtors are economically vulnerable people who have no choice but to turn to private lending, yet the defendant exploited their dire circumstances for profit," and "In the process, he routinely hurled personal and moral insults and threats with content too vile to repeat."
Prosecutors had previously sought an eight-year prison term for Kim. He was charged with lending a total of 17.6 million won at exorbitant interest rates to six people between July and November 2024 without registering as a licensed lender, and sending threatening messages to the borrowers' family members and acquaintances. Annual interest rates ranged from 2,409% to 5,214%, far exceeding 100 times the legal interest rate ceiling of 20% of principal. Kim was also charged with using bank accounts and mobile phones registered under other people's names to operate his unlicensed lending business.
Among the victims, a single mother in her 30s raising a kindergarten-age daughter died in September 2024 after leaving a suicide note, having suffered from malicious illegal debt collection.