34 nabbed in islandwide anti-loansharking blitz
By Julia Ng | Posted: 01 June 2012 1450 hrs
SINGAPORE: Police have arrested 24 men and 10 women, aged between 26 and 72, for their suspected involvement in loansharking activities.
During the 14-hour islandwide anti-loansharking operation conducted on May 31 between 8am to 10pm, over 30 officers from Ang Mo Kio Police Division held simultaneous raids at various locations including Ang Mo Kio, Yishun, Toa Payoh, Telok Blangah, Bukit Merah, Owen Rd and Kembangan.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the suspects had opened bank accounts and given away their Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards and Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) to loansharking syndicates to facilitate unlicensed moneylending businesses.
All the suspects, who are believed to be either borrowers or guarantors, had assisted the loansharks either for monetary gains or to offset their debts.
Investigations against all the suspects are still on-going.
Under the Moneylenders' Act (Revised Edition 2010), when a bank account or ATM card of any person is used to facilitate moneylending by an unlicensed moneylender, that person is presumed to have assisted in carrying on the business of unlicensed moneylending.
First-time offenders found guilty of assisting in the business of unlicensed moneylending could be fined S$30,000 to S$300,000, jailed up to four years and given up to six strokes of the cane.
- CNA/cc
