By Kim Jong-chan
Police said Wednesday they apprehended a private moneylender on charges of violations of the Interest Rates Law and rape.
The 54-year-old man, surnamed Goh, raped a 32-year-old woman twice, after she failed to repay money she borrowed from him at 272-percent annual interest, a spokesman of the Dongdaemun Police Station in Seoul said.
The mother of a female primary school student, who works at an entertainment establishment, borrowed 2 million won from Goh in April last year, the spokesman said. It was not known immediately whether she lives with her husband or not.
Under an agreement signed between the two, Goh took away 300,000 won of the money as interests paid in advance from her. Then she had to give the moneylender 260,000 won every 10 days in accordance with the 10-round installment scheme.
The woman had no choice but to rely on a private moneylender as she was unable to get loans from a bank, the spokesman said. She failed to repay the money as sales of the entertainment establishment where she works were way down.
The moneylender repeatedly asked her provide sex to him as a way to repay the money, he said.
The man raped her twice until August last year, and the woman had an abortion, he said.
The police sought an arrest warrant for Goh on charges of violations of the Interest Rates Law and rape. In recent months, the authorities have conducted a massive crackdown on illegal private moneylenders.