Nov 23, 2009
Mystery loansharkers
Deals done via phone, bank transfer help kingpins remain anonymous
<!-- by line --> By Teh Joo Lin & Mavis Toh
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Borrowers who fail to pay can find their property vandalised (above) by a syndicate's runners. But runners are small fry in these organisations. They work for Ah Longs who operate 'stalls', with various levels of subordinates and money provided by faceless towkays. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND LIM
FACELESS financiers sit at the top of illegal money-lending syndicates. Save for one or two trusted lieutenants, no one in the syndicates knows their names. These towkays could also be running legitimate businesses. They could be operating from abroad. And they never dirty their hands by getting involved in the money-lending operations themselves. For those grubby activities, they have their Ah Longs, who each have their own 'stall' with various levels of subordinates - much like a big corporation. This way, when the runners - the ones who deface walls and speak to borrowers - are nabbed, they have little information to provide the authorities. Not that these small fry would rat on their leaders, even if they knew who they were, out of fear for their own safety. Arrangements would have been made in any case for 'fall guys' to take the rap. Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs Ho Peng Kee compared these syndicates to 'organised criminal groups' driven by profits. 'Kingpins rarely expose themselves; they shield themselves from apprehension by recruiting and surrounding themselves with layers of lieutenants,' he said. 'Members are also fearful to testify against the Ah Longs and towkays for fear of reprisals for them and their families.'
Read the full story in Monday's edition of The Straits Times.
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