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Stiff sentence for 'most horrific' loan-shark runner
Khushwant Singh
The Straits Times
Monday, Aug 05, 2013
SINGAPORE - A loan-shark runner who made a "profession" out of harassing debtors was jailed on Friday for nearly seven years, with the judge describing the case as the most horrific she had seen.
Rinto Abdul Rahim, 26, risked the lives of the members of one household by setting fire to a door from "top to bottom", the court heard.
"You were not concerned that the fire would go out of control or how the occupants can escape," said District Judge Lee Poh Choo.
She sentenced Rinto to six years and 10 months in prison and the maximum 24 strokes of the cane, describing him as the "most horrific harasser" she had come across.
The warehouse assistant got involved with loan sharks in December after borrowing money for mobile phones, clothes and meals at fancy restaurants, the court heard. Unable to pay them back, he quit his job to become a full-time runner and went on to vandalise more than 100 homes in a month.
Rinto was paid $80 for scribbling demands for payment on walls and sealing debtors' gates with a bicycle lock. Splashing paint earned him another $20, while setting fire to a door commanded the highest fee of $500.
After vandalising the flats, he would e-mail pictures of the damage to the loan shark.
He also opened three bank accounts, which were used by an illegal moneylender who wanted to avoid being detected by the authorities.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Daphne Lim requested a stiff sentence to deter others. She said Rinto had "committed a large number of offences affecting a large number of victims over a large geographical area".
His trail of vandalism stretched across the island, taking in areas such as Bedok, Ang Mo Kio, Jurong East, Nee Soon, Sembawang and Woodlands.
DPP Lim said he had also tried to pressure debtors by targeting their neighbours.
Rinto, who did not have a lawyer, said he regretted his actions and pleaded for a light sentence.
For each act of harassment, he could have been fined between $5,000 and $50,000, jailed for up to five years, and given between three and six strokes of the cane.
For assisting an unlicensed moneylender by opening a bank account, he could have been fined between $30,000 and $300,000 and jailed for up to four years.
