4 arrested for loansharking activities
AsiaOne
Tuesday, Jan 15, 2013
SINGAPORE - Police have arrested 3 men and a woman, aged between 30 and 62, for suspected involvement in loansharking activities in four separate cases.
In the first case, on January 13 at about 7pm, police officers received a "999" call from a resident who spotted a man behaving suspiciously outside his unit located along Fernvale Road.
Officers promptly located a man fitting the description in the area and arrested him following an interview.
Loanshark-related items, which included a mobile phone and betting slips, believed to contain debtors' records, were found in his possession.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the 51-year-old man is a debtor-turned-runner who committed harassment by delivering debtors notes to demand for repayment and assisted loansharks in their business by verifying the particulars of debtors.
In the second case, police have received several reports in December 2012 about loanshark harassments where paint was splashed and loanshark-related writings were discovered on the walls of HDB blocks in the Commonwealth housing estates.
A 32-year-old man was arrested in the area of Woodlands Ring Road on January 14 at about 10.10pm. Several pieces of papers containing suspected debtors' records and a mobile phone were seized from him. He is believed to be involved in several similar cases of loanshark harassments in the Commonwealth, Taman Jurong, Woodlands, Shunfu Road, Bedok and Tampines housing estates.
In the third case, on January 14 at about 1.20 pm, officers arrested a 62-year-old woman in the vicinity of Ang Mo Kio Ave 3 for assisting an unlicensed moneylender. She had given away her ATM card and Personal Identification Number (PIN) to a loansharking syndicate to facilitate the business of unlicensed moneylending.
In the last case, on January 15 at about 1.20 am, a 30-year-old man was arrested near Serangoon Ave 2, for assisting an unlicensed moneylender. He had given away his ATM cards and PIN to a loansharking syndicate to facilitate the business of unlicensed moneylending and have also assisted loansharks in distributing flyers offering financial services.
The suspect for the second case will be charged, while investigations against the remaining suspects are ongoing.
Under the Moneylenders Act (Revised Edition 2010), first-time offenders found guilty of assisting in the carrying on of the business of an unlicensed moneylender, may be fined between $30,000 and $300,000, be imprisoned for a maximum of 4 years and shall also be liable to receive up to 6 strokes of cane.
Under the Moneylenders Act (Revised Edition 2010), any person who is guilty of providing false contact information to obtain loans from loansharks shall be liable upon conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months.
Under the National Registration Act, any person who is guilty of an offence of failing to report a change of address shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or both.
