Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Panda]

Hello everyone,

One of my Chinese girl friends lent her money ($70,000) to a Korean Canadian (Kyopo) 3 years ago.

And at that time they signed a contract which says he is going to pay the money + interest back in 2 years.

So after 2 years, the Canadian guy told her he couldn't pay her back, and they signed a second contract which says he pays her by the end of May, this year.

And when the deadline came, he managed to trick my friend to wait... and then he left Korea.

His phone is on but he doesn't answer.

So my friend is going to the police station.

I wonder if anyone here has ever had similar situation.
Will the Korean police be able to do any investigation if the guy is not in Korea.
Will her money be just gone?


Thank you.

[ttompatz]

[leibod1]

Wow, I don't know if your friend seriously lent that kind of cash to someone but if he left, it is out of the police jurisdiction. Even if he was in Korea, it would be notoriously difficult to reclaim the money. Contracts between individuals do not hold much weight in legal court here, maybe if he had used his dojang and it had been witnessed by a notary... but the point is moot. The only option I guess is to see if you can figure out where he went and tracked him down, or try to locate his relative(s) here. However, they are not liable for debt incurred by a different family member, so unless they are really nice, nothing can be done. You could report it but the police would simply tell you that they will investigate, and that's it. Never lend any sizable amount without collateral.

*Mod Note

Nationality has no bearing on the situation, and saying you should not lend money to a certain ethnic group/nationality, gender/ sexual persuasion is flat-out bigoted garbage. These type of comments wil not be tolerated on Dave's

[Panda]

Yes, it is an ill-considered contract. My friend is naive and she is also very generous to her friends.

I heard a few years ago, a Kyopo well-known among foreigners' community in Busan took all his friend's money and run away, I am worried the same thing will happen to my friend (actually it did).


My friend is collecting all the evidence she has. But she is too poor to hire a lawyer now.

Sigh.

[Kuros]

At this point, she should hire a Canadian lawyer, preferably one located in the province where the individual now resides. $70,000 is worth it, hopefully she can negotiate a contingency arrangement (lawyer taking 33% of ultimate recovery) and only advance the costs of the suit. A lawyer will be able to advise her further.

I do not know how bankruptcy law works in Canada, but I presume that he can discharge the entire debt in bankruptcy. The only good news: a $70,000 debt may be worth a lawyer's time. She should spend as many hours as it takes to find a lawyer and not give up. It will be a long process.

[Panda]

Thank you Kuros

[Kuros]

One more thing.

*the following is not to be construed as legal advice establishing an attorney-client relationship*

[andrewchon]

There are many private detective agencies specializing in dept recovery.

[Julius]

[ttompatz]

[everything-is-everything]

[Steelrails]

In collecting debt one should always act within the bounds of the law and NEVER, EVER, consider grey or illegal actions, despite the fact that they may be effective.

On the other hand, I do notice that people have a tendency to pay up to certain parties, especially those engaged in grey or illegal activities. Perhaps those parties have some sort of different incentive to encourage repayment of loans and losses.

[Julius]

[jvalmer]

I'm just wondering why on earth would you 'loan' someone 70k? That's a good chunk of change, unless your a multi-millionaire.

[kimchipig]