Five people arrested for three cases of loanshark activities
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AsiaOne
Thursday, Mar 20, 2014
SINGAPORE - The police have arrested five people aged between 29 and 74 for suspected involvement in loanshark activities in three separate cases.
In the first case, a case of loanshark harassment was reported on March 1. A unit at Telok Blangah Drive was splashed with paint and loanshark writings were found on the walls. On March 19 at about 10pm, officers from Clementi Police Division arrested the 37-year-old suspect in the vicinity of Ang Mo Kio Street 31 for suspected involvement in loanshark activities.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect, who is a debtor-turned-runner, had assisted the loanshark syndicates to harass the units of the debtors by scrawling on their walls and splashing paint on their doors. Loanshark-related paraphernalia such as three cans of paint, one marker pen and three sets of mobile phones were also seized from the suspect's house.
In the second case, a 74-year-old man was arrested on March 19 at about 7.45 pm in the vicinity of Telok Blangah Heights by officers from Ang Mo Kio Police Division for suspected involvement in loansharking activities. Preliminary investigations indicated that the suspect, who is also a loanshark debtor-turned-runner, had assisted loansharks by checking on borrower's units for signs of harassment. Investigation against this suspect is on-going.
In the third case, on March 19 at about 9.20 pm, officers from Ang Mo Kio Police Division arrested 3 male suspects aged between 29 and 48 in the vicinity of Upper Boon Keng Road for their involvement in loanshark harassments. The suspects are believed to have committed multiple cases of loanshark harassment island-wide by splashing paint and scrawling loanshark-related graffiti on the walls of HDB blocks.
The suspects in the first and third case will be charged in Court on March 21. If found guilty of any act of loanshark harassment, first-time offenders face a jail term of up to five years, a fine between $5,000 and $50,000, and between three and six strokes of caning.
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