Updated: 01/15/2014 21:23 | By Channel NewsAsia
16 people arrested in crackdown on loansharking activities
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SINGAPORE: Police have arrested 16 people for their suspected involvement in loansharking activities in two separate cases.
In the first case, 13 men and one woman were arrested between Monday and Tuesday at Jurong West, Choa Chu Kang, Punggol, Bukit Batok, Middle Road and Woodlands.
They are aged between 24 and 62.
Police said preliminary investigations revealed they are debtors who opened bank accounts and gave their Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards and Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) to loansharks to facilitate their illegal business.
Separately, the police arrested two men on Tuesday, for their suspected involvement in loansharking activities.
The men, aged 29 and 55, are believed to have assisted loanshark syndicates to get ATM cards from other debtors - to facilitate their business.
Investigations against all the 16 suspects are ongoing.
Under the Moneylenders Act 2010 (Revised Edition), first-time offenders found guilty of carrying on the business as an unlicensed moneylender or assisting in the business of unlicensed money-lending may be fined not less than S$30,000 and not more S$300,000, be imprisoned for a term not exceeding four years, and shall also be liable to be punished with not more than six strokes of the cane. - CNA/xq
