Youths nabbed for suspected loansharking involvement

[Toshiie Maeda]

Youths nabbed for suspected loansharking involvement
Posted: 08 February 2011 1926 hrs
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SINGAPORE: Fourteen youths, mostly students, were arrested for their suspected involvement in loansharking activities.

They were rounded up in a two-day island-wide operation.

Police said their preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects had opened bank accounts and gave their Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards and Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) to loansharking syndicates in order to earn some pocket money.

Investigations into all the suspects are on-going.

Commander of Jurong Police Division Florence Chua advised students not to be tempted into making a quick buck by such illicit means.

She said the act of surrendering one's bank account to unlicensed moneylenders not only facilitates the unlicensed moneylenders' operations, but also helps these illegal syndicates avoid police detection.

She warned that the police will not hesitate to take stern action against these perpetrators, regardless of their age.

-CNA/wk

 

[Toshiie Maeda]

Feb 8, 2011

14 youths suspected of aiding illegal moneylenders

By Jalelah Abu Baker

Fresh accounts under the youth's names were used by these loansharks to move money without the activity being traced to them. -- ST PHOTO: LIM WUI LIANG

A 15-YEAR OLD was among those arrested by police for suspected involvement in loansharking activities during a two-day islandwide operation.

Between Monday and Tuesday, officers from the Jurong police division nabbed 14 suspects, all hailing from the western part of Singapore.

Of them, 10 were male and four female and were aged between 15 and 21 years. Most were students.

They are suspected of aiding loansharks by opening bank accounts and giving illegal moneylending syndicates their Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards and Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) in return for 'pocket money', the police said.

Fresh accounts under the youth's names were used by these loansharksto move money without the activity being traced to them.

Under the Moneylenders Act 2010 (Revised Edition), when a person's bank account or ATM card is used to facilitate moneylending activities by an unlicensed moneylender, he is presumed to have assisted in the business of an unlicensed moneylender.

Read the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.