ggehs are

...a kind of informal Korean mutual assistance cooperative.

In our ggeh, if you give a few dollars you can expect to receive a few hundred. The more you give, the more you can ask for; everyone comes to learn what’s a fair amount. You send a letter. Then you come at night and you make your request.

Microfinancing is an interesting idea, and as this indicates, not a particularly new one. Good points about the importance of trust in these sorts of dealings.

Not all extralegal financial dealings rely solely on trust, or at least trust as it exists between members of a ggeh. An alternate case in point: the mafia.

Organized crime: very much reliant on trust, but with a different foundation. I suppose you have to draw a distinction between trust built on intimidation and that which is created by knowledge and experience. The former requires an additional distinction of the degree to which the person being intimidated accepts the intimidator’s legitimacy. Otherwise it would be hard to distinguish between organized crime and the ‘legit’ threats of bankers who want to repossess your house…