Apr 30, 2010
27 held in anti-loanshark raids
<!-- by line --> By Nicholas Lim
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<!-- end left side bar --> <!-- story content : start --> TWENTY three men and four women were arrested in an islandwide operation against illegal moneylenders and their runners. Police said the suspects, aged between 19 and 62 years, were believed to be involved in loansharking activities, such as runners, harassers and recruiters for loansharking operations. During the operation, cash and paraphernalia such as ATM and credit cards, bank transaction slips, mobile phones, pens, pairs of latex gloves and note books with writings used for the illegal moneylending activities were also seized.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the 27 had opened bank accounts and gave away their Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards and Personal Identification Number (PIN) to loansharking syndicates to facilitate the business of unlicensed moneylending. Investigations are still on-going. If convicted, first time offenders can be fined from $30,000 to $300,000 and jailed up to four years. They also face up to six strokes of the cane.
