NSman jailed, caned for working as 'commando' for loanshark
Published on Dec 04, 2012
Unable to pay off his $400 loans from an unlicensed moneylender, a 19-year-old full-time national serviceman became a 'commando" - a harasser for a loanshark - and set fire to the homes of debtors. On Tuesday, Bernard Quek He Feng, now 21, was sentenced to 18 months in jail and three strokes of the cane. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW
By Khushwant Singh
UNABLE to pay off his $400 loans from an unlicensed moneylender, a 19-year-old full-time national serviceman became a 'commando" - a harasser for a loanshark - and set fire to the homes of debtors.
On Tuesday, Bernard Quek He Feng, now 21, was sentenced to 18 months in jail and three strokes of the cane.
A district court heard that he was paid $120 for each home that he targeted for the loanshark known only as Kilat. Quek bought a tin of kerosene, which he would pour into a plastic bottle whenever he received an assignment.
He would scribble loanshark graffiti on the wall and then either splash the kerosene on the main door or on nearby shoe racks before setting these on fire.
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