Going online, loan sharks get slicker
By Adrian Lim
my paper
Wednesday, Oct 17, 2012
SINGAPORE - While cases of unlicensed moneylending and harassment have dropped, loan sharks are using new and sophisticated methods to reel in victims.
These include advertising money-borrowing services through e-mail blasts and text messages, said Second Minister for Home Affairs S. Iswaran in Parliament yesterday.
Although the loan-shark situation has improved on the whole from two years ago, the fight is "far from over", he warned.
There were 5,228 reported cases of unlicensed moneylending and harassment in the first half of the year, a 21 per cent drop compared to the same period last year.
The number of people arrested in the same period rose by 22 per cent to 1,033, said Mr Iswaran.
He attributed the drop in loan-shark cases to several factors, including stepped-up enforcement by the police and preventive-education efforts, as well as engagement with community partners.
Another factor was the widely publicised stiffer penalties for loan shark-related activities, which have had a deterrent effect, said Mr Iswaran.
In January 2010, Parliament passed changes to laws governing moneylending to impose tougher penalties on offenders.
The changes include mandatory caning for first-time offenders when they hurt people or damage property.
Asked by Nee Soon GRC Member of Parliament Lee Bee Wah on whether the Ministry of Home Affairs will consider making it an offence to borrow from loan sharks, Mr Iswaran said it had no plans to do so for now.
He explained that the circumstances of borrowers vary and it will be difficult to apply a common approach to all.
Mr Iswaran said that the matter had been debated quite extensively and the ministry's focus will be on "preventive education, enforcement, and community engagement" to tackle the issue.
He added that there are legal provisions in place to deal with borrowers who are either slow in reporting changes to their addresses, or who give wrong information to implicate another.
Holland-Bukit Timah GRC MP Christopher De Souza asked if the anti-loan-shark measures are able to tackle syndicate leaders. He was concerned that some may be based overseas.
Mr Iswaran said the police have cooperative ties with law- enforcement agencies in neighbouring countries and tap on these to interdict such offenders and bring them to task in Singapore.
Catching the people behind the syndicates requires "persistence and perseverance", he added.
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