3 men arrested for loanshark-related activities

[KarJuaKoon]

3 men arrested for loanshark-related activities

AsiaOne
Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013

SINGAPORE - Police have arrested three men, aged between 30 and 66 years old, for suspected involvement in loansharking activities in three separate cases.

On April 1, 2013 at about 4pm, officers arrested a 66-year-old man in the vicinity of Potong Pasir for his suspected involvement in loansharking activities. Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect had opened a bank account and given away his Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card and Personal Identification Number (PIN) to a loan-sharking syndicate to facilitate its business.

In the second case, officers arrested a 30-year-old man in the vicinity of Bukit Batok East Ave 4 on April 1 at about 6 pm. The suspect is believed to be a debtor who had opened two bank accounts and given away his Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards and Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) to loan-sharking syndicates to offset his existing debts.

In the third case, officers conducted anti-loansharking operation and arrested a 31-year-old man at Segar Road for suspected involvement in loansharking activities on April 1 at about 2.30 pm. Investigations indicated that the suspect is a debtor-turned-runner and he is believed to have assisted the loanshark syndicates to collect ATM bank cards from debtors and performed electronic funds transactions via ATMs.

Upon his arrest, three ATM cards, cash amounting to $500 and one mobile phone containing debtors' information were seized in connection to the case.

Investigations against the suspects are ongoing.

Under the Moneylenders Act 2010, first-time offenders found guilty of assisting the business of an unlicensed moneylender may be fined not less than $30,000 and not more than $300,000, may be imprisoned for a term not exceeding 4 years and shall also be liable to be punished with caning of not more than 6 strokes.