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Keiji Maeda
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Jun 13, 2011
Jailed, fined for opening bank account for loanshark
By Khushwant Singh
A former sales engineer, who borrowed $3,000 from an unlicensed moneylender, agreed to open a bank account in May last year for the loanshark to use. -- PHOTO: NP
A FORMER sales engineer, who borrowed $3,000 from an unlicensed moneylender, agreed to open a bank account in May last year for the loanshark to use.
On Monday, Lim Chan Thor pleaded guilty in a district court to assisting the loanshark known as 'Ah Boon', and was fined $30,000 and jailed a month. The 44-year-old could have fined up to $300,000 and jailed up to four years.
His lawyer Harold Seet told the court that Lim's mother had been taken ill in January last year and his client had borrowed from the loanshark out of desperation. He was to pay the full sum plus 20 per cent interest within four weeks but defaulted on the $600 weekly repayment amount.
Ah Boon's runners started harassing Lim and his family. In March, things took a turn for the worse when he was retrenched, His mother also died a month later at the age of 82.
His lawyer said that it was in these trying circumstances that his client foolishly succumbed to the demand of Ah Boon to open an account with DBS Bank and hand over the ATM card to the loanshark to use for a month. In return, henchmen would not harassed Lim for this period.
[email protected]
Jailed, fined for opening bank account for loanshark
By Khushwant Singh
A former sales engineer, who borrowed $3,000 from an unlicensed moneylender, agreed to open a bank account in May last year for the loanshark to use. -- PHOTO: NP
A FORMER sales engineer, who borrowed $3,000 from an unlicensed moneylender, agreed to open a bank account in May last year for the loanshark to use.
On Monday, Lim Chan Thor pleaded guilty in a district court to assisting the loanshark known as 'Ah Boon', and was fined $30,000 and jailed a month. The 44-year-old could have fined up to $300,000 and jailed up to four years.
His lawyer Harold Seet told the court that Lim's mother had been taken ill in January last year and his client had borrowed from the loanshark out of desperation. He was to pay the full sum plus 20 per cent interest within four weeks but defaulted on the $600 weekly repayment amount.
Ah Boon's runners started harassing Lim and his family. In March, things took a turn for the worse when he was retrenched, His mother also died a month later at the age of 82.
His lawyer said that it was in these trying circumstances that his client foolishly succumbed to the demand of Ah Boon to open an account with DBS Bank and hand over the ATM card to the loanshark to use for a month. In return, henchmen would not harassed Lim for this period.
[email protected]
