2 arrested for involvement in loanshark activities
Items seized from the second loanshark case
AsiaOne
Tuesday, Jun 17, 2014
SINGAPORE - The police have arrested two persons aged between 24 and 34 for their involvement in loansharking activities in two separate cases.
In the first case, on June 16, at about 4.00pm, officers from the Choa Chu Kang Neighbourhood Police Centre (NPC) arrested a 24-year-old man in the vicinity of Bukit Batok Central.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect was a debtor-turned-runner, who assisted the loanshark syndicate to procure Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards and Personal Identification Numbers (PIN) from other debtors to facilitate unlicensed money-lending businesses.
An ATM card and a handphone related to the case were seized upon his arrest.
In the second case, on June 16, at about 4.20pm, officers from Bukit Batok NPC spotted a female suspect performing multiple ATM transactions in the vicinity of Bukit Batok Central.
The 34-year-old female suspect was later found to be in possession of nine ATM cards which did not belong to her.
Investigations revealed that the suspect was also a debtor-turned-runner, who assisted the loanshark syndicates to procure ATM cards with PINs, and used them to perform ATM transactions related to unlicensed money-lending businesses. The suspect also used her own bank accounts to facilitate unlicensed business transactions.
Upon her arrest, nine ATM cards, three handphones, a stack of ATM transaction receipts and cash amounting to $580 were seized in connection to the case.
Under the Moneylenders Act 2010 (Revised Edition), first-time offenders found guilty of facilitating the business of an unlicensed moneylender may be fined between $30,000 and $300,000, imprisoned for up to four years, and will also be liable to not more than six strokes of the cane.
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