불법다단계·유사수신과 사기죄에 대한 연구

The Criminal Code is obligated to maintain the principle of the benefit and protection of law for the Korean society. It is true that the Commercial Code needs to be mobilized as ultima ratio among various legal remedies. Nonetheless, it is not right to overlook prevailing illegal activities and spread of damage. Effectiveness of the Criminal Code is guaranteed by public trust. As ultra-low interest rates persist for a long time, the Korean society is gradually vulnerable to vicious financial crimes inciting high interest rates. Financial frauds that prey on ordinary people with high interest rates are serious crimes with various negative effects. Furthermore, problems become more serious when the crimes are committed against the elderly, Koreans residing in China or housewives who do not have vast amount of knowledge about economic conditions. In order to prevent these financial crimes, a series of special laws were enacted, but they ceaselessly cause great damage. In particular, the special laws have limited effects, so severe punishment has yet to be meted out, and it resulted in weak crime prevention power. That is why the Commercial Code is requested. In this regard, the study was focused on examining how to interpret frauds based on methods of contract established by illegal multilevel fund-raising business operators. In particular, the study delved into how Korea and Japan recognize ‘deceit’ and ‘premeditation’ through the use of two important cases. In order to avoid conducting investigations, bringing a prosecution and winning a series of meaningless suits at a brink of going bankruptcy with regard to these kinds of criminal cases, frauds need to be understood as abstract endangerment offenses so that the judicial authority can intervene at an earlier stage to maintain the principle of the benefit and protection of law.