"Tech-savvy" illegal moneylender jailed, fined
By Shaffiq Alkhatib | Posted: 14 September 2011 1741 hrs
SINGAPORE : Ordinary workers are not the only ones upgrading their skills. A district court on Wednesday heard that Ang Hang Tiong, 47, used "revolutionary technology" to help a loanshark divert calls from borrowers to the Internet so they could talk to unlicensed moneylenders.
This made it more difficult for the police to trace.
Ang helped a loanshark, known only as Curry, divert calls from his mobile phone lines to a Voice over Internet Protocol number to conduct his illegal business.
Ang was on Wednesday jailed 21 months and ordered to pay a S$420,000 fine.
The jobless man pleaded guilty to 14 of 28 charges under the Moneylenders Act, and will be jailed another 14 months if he can't pay the fine.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Vanessa Yeo said Ang had diverted the calls from pre-paid SIM card mobile lines between late 2009 and April this year.
District Judge Jasbendar Kaur heard that Ang had been previously convicted of other loansharking offences in December 2007 and had been sentenced to 10 months' jail.
A year after his release, he accepted a job from Curry for a monthly salary of S$750.
Curry also asked Ang to print and mail advertising flyers to potential debtors.
Ang printed the flyers at a Bedok South printing shop in March this year before mailing them.
Ang told the court in his mitigation plea that he had tried to look for a job after his release from jail but was unsuccessful.
He added that he had incurred gambling debts.
Ang asked Judge Kaur to give him a second chance saying he had "no choice" but to work for an illegal moneylender.
As a repeat offender, he could also have been caned.
But he got a reprieve as Judge Kaur had taken his mitigation plea into consideration.
She warned him he would not be spared caning if he were to re-offend.
- CNA/ms
