Aug 26, 2010
Runner gets jail, cane and fine
<!-- by line --> By Elena Chong
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<!-- end left side bar --> <!-- story content : start --> A LOANSHARK runner who set fire to debtors' grille gates and doors and defaced nearby walls was sentenced to three years' jail and 15 strokes of the cane on Thursday. Nelson Jeyaraj Chandran, 24, an events organiser, was also given a concurrent two months' jail and $30,000 fine for helping the loanshark, known as Ah Boy, to check a lift lobby in Toa Payoh for evidence of harassments by other unlicensed moneylenders.
He had pleaded guilty on Monday to six of 10 charges. His accomplice, Ah Huat, had acted as his lookout while he set fire to the doors by using kerosene and damaged property. The court heard that Nelson had been borrowing money from Ah Boy since 2008. When he defaulted on repayment of his last loan of $5,000, Ah Boy offered him a job as a runner to check evidence of harassment and report back.
He was paid $60 a day. After a while, Nelson was asked to harass debtors by splashing paint and scribble loanshark writings. He subsequently chose to burn doors as the pay was much higher at $150 a unit. Nelson was arrested along Hougang Avenue 9 on April 29.
