Loan shark harassment cases in 2011 down 21%

[General Veers]

Loan shark harassment cases in 2011 down 21%
By Hoe Yeen Nie | Posted: 01 March 2012 2031 hrs

SINGAPORE: The number of loan shark harassment cases last year fell by 21% - or 3,492 cases - compared to 2010.

During the same period, the number of arrests for such activities rose by 31 per cent to 1,981, while police busted 10 loanshark syndicates.

Disclosing these figures in Parliament on Thursday, Second Home Affairs Minister S Iswaran attributed the improvement to three reasons - stiffer penalties under the amended Moneylenders Act, more effective police enforcement, and closer partnerships with the community.

However, the numbers also revealed unsettling trends.

The number of harassment cases involving fire has more than doubled, from 38 in 2010 to 97 in 2011.

Secondly, more youths aged 19 and below are being arrested for involvement in loansharking and harassment activities.

In 2011, they accounted for 336, or about 17 per cent of such arrests, compared to 13 per cent in 2010.

Mr Iswaran said in most cases, their involvement was unwitting; but in some, the teens had knowingly participated in the harassment activities.

In such instances, Mr Iswaran said they will be dealt with the law.

In the coming year, more resources will be put into fighting loansharking.

This includes spending more time to educate youths and to engage the community, while beefing up the deployment of CCTV cameras.

Mr Iswaran noted that some MPs had expressed concern that the opening of the casinos had led to more gamblers borrowing from loansharks.

But he said there is no definitive link, as the number of unlicensed moneylending cases had fallen in 2010, the same year the casinos opened.

"Mr Iswaran said: "We cannot establish a clear causative link between the casinos and the trend in unlicensed moneylending cases. Indeed the data shows that the number of unlicensed moneylending cases had fallen since 2010, the year the casinos began operations. And that's because there are multiple factors at play not lease of which is economic conditions, police enforcement actions, etc.

"It would thus be premature to draw definitive conclusions about the impact of the casinos on unlicensed money lending activities. Nonetheless, we will continue to keep a close watch and take action if there are any signs of an emerging undesirable trend."

But he said his ministry will monitor the crime situation in the casinos, on top of reviewing the Casino Control Act.

The review, to be completed this year, includes enhancing the law to keep crime out, fine-tuning gaming regulations and additional safeguards to tackle problem gambling.

Mr Iswaran added that police cameras will be installed in all 10,000 HDB blocks and multi-storey car parks by 2016.

He said his ministry's experience has shown that police cameras can effectively aid investigations and deter crime.

Technology also complements the ministry's efforts to attract more and higher quality police officers.

"The police cameras will be installed at key points of ingress and egress, such as ground-floor lift lobbies and stairwells. While the cameras will not be monitored live, the recorded footage can be used to help solve crime. We will start with a pilot in May 2012 covering 300 HDB blocks and multi-storey car parks across Singapore," he said.

- CNA/fa