Loanshark runner jailed 7-years for harassments

[Cao Ren]

Aug 2, 2011

Loanshark runner jailed 7-years for harassments

By Elena Chong

A man who set fire and scribbled graffiti on the walls of various HDB units on behalf of a loanshark was jailed for seven years and ordered to be given 24 strokes of the cane on Tuesday. -- PHOTO: NEW PAPER

A MAN who set fire and scribbled graffiti on the walls of various HDB units on behalf of a loanshark was jailed for seven years and ordered to be given 24 strokes of the cane on Tuesday.

Project manager Soh Hann Kwang, 36, who had pleaded guilty to 13 of 33 charges, was also banned from driving for a year.

For two weeks in June 2011, he drove his wife's off-peak car to various locations. such as Jurong, Ang Mo Kio, Sengkang and Toa Payoh, to commit the offences.

He had no driving licence and had thus driven without insurance coverage.

A district court heard that Soh was saddled with debts after borrowing from both legal and illegal moneylenders.

One of them offered him a job as a runner in early June.

He was paid $150 for setting fire at each unit, $70 for splashing paint and scribbling on the wall of each unit and $10 extra if a padlock was used.

He was arrested on June 14 during an islandwide operation against an unlicensed moneylending syndicate.

 

[Himiko]

Project manager jailed, fined for loanshark harassment
By Shaffiq Alkhatib | Posted: 02 August 2011 1706 hrs

SINGAPORE: A project manager was sentenced on Tuesday to seven years' jail and 24 strokes of the cane for loanshark harassment.

Soh Hann Kwang, 36, was almost broke after splurging on his wedding and decided to borrow money from three loansharks.

When Soh was unable to settle his loans, one of the loansharks offered him a job as a runner to pay off his debts.

Soh accepted the offer and harassed 31 different households all over Singapore between June 1 and 14 this year.

He even set fire outside seven of the flats, usually near the front doors, to scare the occupants into paying their debts.

Soh pleaded guilty to 13 charges, including 11 for loanshark harassment. Twenty other charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.

He was also disqualified from driving all classes of vehicles for a year after admitting that he had used his wife's car to travel to his victims' homes.

Soh is not licensed to drive.

The court heard that his wife allowed him to use her car because she was not aware he did not have a Class 3 driving licence.

- CNA/fa