Oct 14, 2010
Taiwanese loan shark jailed
By Khushwant Singh
HIRED in Taiwan in August and promised $3,600 a month to harass debtors here for a loan shark syndicate, Wu Ting-Yi was arrested before he could get started. The 29-year-old Taiwanese was jailed seven months by a district court on Thursday for conspiring to commit acts of harassment for an unknown illegal moneylending syndicate. He could have been jailed for up to five years and fined up to $50,000.
According to court documents, Wu, who was unemployed, was recruited in Kaohsiung, a city in south-west Taiwan, by a syndicate member known only as Xiao Su. He was told that his air fare to Singapore and accommodation here would be paid for and his job was to deface walls and lock the iron grilles of the homes of debtors. For this, he would be paid $3,600 a month.
If arrested, he would receive $900 in compensation for every month he served in jail and an additional $3,600 if caned. He then flew here with Chen Ci Fan on Aug 20. Both received month-long social visit passes. Wu was also given SIM cards for his cell phone but before he could get into the act, he was arrested on Aug 22 in the car park of Hamilton Road near Lavender MRT station. He has been in remand since.
The court was told that Chen, 30, has also been arrested and his case will be heard later this month while Xiao Su is on the run. Both are also Taiwanese. Deputy Public Prosecutor Sherlyn Neo told the court that at least eight foreigners, including Wu, have been involved in illegal money-lending activities up to August. She said that this trend must be curbed .
