By Kim A-rin, The Herald Business
The Korean National Police Agency convened its fifth Special Performance Bonus Review Committee on June 5 and announced Thursday it had selected 24 cases for awards totaling 207 million won (about $136,000).
Among the highlighted cases, Senior Officer Kim Beom-su and two colleagues from Integrated Investigation Team 4 at Busan's Dongrae Police Station received top recognition. The team arrested and detained operators of an illegal lending scheme that had disguised itself as a mobile department store gift-card trading service while charging annual interest rates exceeding 1,500%, targeting vulnerable borrowers including people with poor credit ratings and young workers new to the job market. The three officers will receive a combined 15 million won in prize money.
According to police, the suspects operated on Naver Cafe, presenting themselves as ordinary gift-card traders. They provided gift cards to victims and demanded repayment within a short period, effectively running an unlicensed high-interest lending business. The number of confirmed victims has reached roughly 300.
The suspects structured their scheme as gift-card transactions to exploit a Supreme Court precedent holding that repayment of securities does not constitute monetary lending. Police determined the operation was in substance an illegal high-interest lending business. When victims could not repay, the suspects filed criminal complaints against them as a pressure tactic.
Investigators zeroed in on the fact that the gift cards were being traded at prices far below market value, which prompted them to open the case. Statements from victims subsequently confirmed that the transactions were in reality an illegal lending scheme.
Other recognized cases included Sergeant Moon Ji-gwang and two colleagues from the Narcotics Crime Investigation Unit of the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency's Organized Crime Investigation Division. They arrested 14 people — including the ringleader of an operation that smuggled drugs from Vietnam, buried them in a hillside and distributed them nationwide — and seized 13 kilograms of narcotics. Inspector Choe Jae-seok and two colleagues from the Criminal Investigation Division of Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency's Jungbu Police Station also received awards for arresting 71 people, including the mastermind and recruiters of a Philippines-based voice-phishing ring, and seizing 830 million won.
Beyond illegal lending, the agency said this round of awards recognized achievements in areas with strong public impact, including the arrest of a serial arsonist, digital sex crime investigations, the development of forensic techniques, and disaster and safety accident prevention.
"We will continue to actively identify and reward civil servants who achieve outstanding results that the public can feel, firmly establishing a performance-driven organizational culture," the agency said.
arin@heraldcorp.com
