Police net 6 suspects in 3 loanshark cases
Photo: Singapore Police Force
Tuesday, Apr 12, 2016
SINGAPORE - Six men aged between 15 and 31 have been arrested for their suspected involvement in loansharking activities, in three separate cases.
The first case saw police investigating a loanshark harassment report lodged on April 9, where a unit was splashed with paint and loanshark graffiti was scrawled on the wall of a HDB block at Woodlands Ring Road.
Two days later, four men aged between 15 and 28 were arrested by officers from Jurong Division along Geylang Road and Bedok North Road.
It is believed that these men carried out similar acts of harassments at Woodlands and Ang Mo Kio housing estates, the police said in a statement today.
Jurong Division officers were also involved in the second case where a 31-year-old man was arrested on April 11.
"Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect is a debtor-turned-runner who assisted the loanshark syndicates to procure Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards with Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) from debtors," the police said.
In the last case, a 28-year-old man was arrested in the vicinity of Bukit Batok Central on April 11. He is believed to be a debtor-turned-runner who assisted the loanshark syndicates to procure ATM cards with PINs from debtors, and used them to perform ATM fund transactions, the police said.
First-time offenders found guilty of unlicensed moneylending, or assisting, may be fined not less than $30,000 and not more than $300,000. They may also be jailed not more than four years and may also be caned not more than six strokes.
Those found guilty of loanshark harassment can be fined from $5,000 to $50,000, and a mandatory jail sentence of up to five years.
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