Jul 26, 2011
Suspects nabbed for suspected loanshark activities
By Francis Chan
POLICE on Monday nabbed six suspects, including five youths aged between 14 and 17, for suspected involvement in loansharking activities.
Officers from Ang Mo Kio Police Division spotted two of the youths behaving suspiciously in the vicinity of Ang Mo Kio Ave 1, while on patrol on Monday at 2.30pm.
The youths were checked and found with a can of paint and handphone containing messages believed to be relating to loanshark harassment in their possession.
Follow-up investigations later led to the arrest of three other youths - who are all believed to be accomplices of the first two - in the vicinity within the next three hours.
The five are believed to have committed at least 10 counts of loanshark harassment by splashing paint and scrawling loanshark-related graffiti on the walls in the Yishun, Ang Mo Kio, Hougang, Sengkang and Bedok estates.
Separately, a 38-year-old man, believed to have assisted loanshark syndicates among other things by handing over cash to borrowers to open bank accounts, was arrested in Bukit Merah Central on Monday.
