Two men arrested for separate cases of loanshark activities
AsiaOne
Thursday, Dec 27, 2012
SINGAPORE - Police arrested two male suspects in their 50s for being involved in separate cases of loanshark activities.
In the first case, officers arrested the 50-year-old suspect in the vicinity of Yishun central on Dec 26, at around 10am, after conducting follow-up investigations.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the male suspect was a debtor-turned-runner.
He had assisted loansharks by sharing his ATM card and Personal Identification Number (PIN) to facilitate their illegal moneylending activities.
In the second case, a 51-year-old was arrested in the vicinity of Hougang Ave 9 on Dec 26, at around 12.10pm.
He is suspected to be a debtor who used his previous residential address to obtain loans from the loanshark syndicates.
This caused the current occupants of his previous residence to receive harassment by loansharks.
The male suspect is also being investigated for failing to report the change of home address under the National Registration Act.
Investigations against both suspects are on-going.
First-time offenders found guilty of assisting unlicensed moneylenders can be fined between $30,000 and $300,000, imprisoned up to 4 years and liable to be punished with six strokes of the cane.
First-time offenders found guilty of acting on behalf of an unlicensed moneylender, committing or attempting to commit any acts of harassment can be jailed up to five years, fined between $5,000 and $500,000, and be caned between three and six strokes.
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