Daegu police have arrested 16 people on charges of running an illegal private lending and debt-collection operation that charged borrowers annual interest rates as high as 13,000 percent.
The Daegu Metropolitan Police Agency said Saturday that authorities booked the ringleader, identified only as A, a person in their 30s, along with 15 others on charges of violating the Loan Business Act. Two of the 16 have been detained.
Police have also requested Interpol red notices for three suspects believed to be abroad.
A and the others are accused of operating out of Daegu from June last year through May this year, using illegally obtained personal data to make unsolicited loan-solicitation calls to potential victims.
The group allegedly lent 1.66 billion won ($1.15 million) to 952 victims across 2,850 transactions, then collected annual interest rates ranging from 1,150 percent to 13,000 percent, netting about 900 million won in illicit profits.
The investigation found the operation was divided into distinct roles — a ringleader, a manager and a loan-execution team — with each member carrying out assigned tasks.
The suspects primarily targeted financially vulnerable people who had difficulty obtaining conventional loans, lending them relatively small amounts of between 100,000 won and 4 million won before charging exorbitant interest.
Police have applied for a pre-indictment asset preservation order covering approximately 404 million won in criminal proceeds.
"Illegal private lending is a serious crime," a police official said. "We urge anyone who has suffered harm from illegal lending or debt-collection practices to report it immediately by calling 112."
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