An illegal loan agent was indicted on charges of sending millions of spam messages to mobile phones to lure potential customers, prosecutors said Monday.

The 34-year-old man, surnamed Kim, sent unwanted text messages to random cell phone users in violation of the local communications law, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said.

Kim pocketed about 770 million won (US$731,591) in commission for brokering 1 billion won of illegal lending through his spamming, the prosecution said. He is responsible for sending 6.9 million unsolicited text messages between July last year and May this year, according to the prosecution.

The charges against Kim also include distribution of 28 million obscene mobile phone messages during the four months ended January.

Those messages were aimed at luring customers to his pornographic Web site, prosecutors noted.

The prosecution indicted another man, also surnamed Kim, without physical detention, on suspicion of helping the spammer avoid investigation by the telecommunication regulator.

As the nominal president of the loan agency, the 30-year-old Kim was the main subject of the regulator's probe into the illegal spamming activities although the 34-year-old Kim was mostly responsible, prosecutors said.

During questioning by investigators, the 34-year-old spammer said he hired the younger Kim as president on paper to operate the service while he was on a suspended jail sentence for his own illicit earnings through mass spamming in 2006, according to prosecutors.

"In order to curb the growing circulation of mass spam, the penalty ceilings should be lifted from the current year of jail time or fine of 10 million won," a prosecution official said. (Yonhap News)