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https://www.todayonline.com/singapo...tic-workers-charging-15-interest-rate-illegal
Jail, S$270,000 fine for woman who charged domestic workers 15% interest for illegal loans
SINGAPORE — A Filipina working as an info-technology programmer and analyst here issued*illegal loans to 18 of her fellow countrywomen and got away with it for almost three years until a borrower reported her to the authorities.
David Cyrine Mercado made almost S$73,000 in profits from the operation, using most of it as capital for new loans. Another woman in cahoots with her, domestic worker Valino Marianne Pasco, earned about half that sum.
They had charged their borrowers — who were all foreign domestic workers here — a monthly interest rate of 15 per cent.
On Thursday (Jan 30), Mercado was sentenced in a district court to two-and-a-half years’ jail and a fine of S$270,000. She has to spend another nine months behind bars if she cannot pay the fine.
The 30-year-old, who worked in*software company Solderfield and had*contracted*work with*Maybank, pleaded guilty to nine counts of issuing illegal loans under the Moneylenders’ Act, with another 19 such charges taken into consideration for sentencing.*
For each charge, she could have been jailed up to four years and fined up to S$300,000.
Read also: A third of foreign domestic workers in Singapore in debt, half have no bank account: Report
Asking for a sentence of two-and-a-half years and a fine S$360,000, Deputy Public Prosecutor Kang Jia Hui described the 15 per cent monthly interest rate as exorbitant, arguing that they had exploited their borrowers who were “vulnerable with little recourse to legal avenues”.
Pasco, 42, was earlier sentenced to two years and three months’ jail and fined S$270,000 for her role in the unlicensed moneylending operation.
KEPT LARGER PORTION OF INTEREST EARNED
Read also: Hundreds of distressed domestic workers seek help over debts to licensed lenders, loan sharks
The court heard that in late 2016, Pasco’s friends asked her if she knew anyone willing to lend them money.
Pasco then told Mercado that her friends were willing to pay 20 to 25 per cent interest on the loans, claiming that it was the market rate.*
Mercado agreed to give them loans with a monthly interest rate of 15 per cent.
Jail, S$270,000 fine for woman who charged domestic workers 15% interest for illegal loans
SINGAPORE — A Filipina working as an info-technology programmer and analyst here issued*illegal loans to 18 of her fellow countrywomen and got away with it for almost three years until a borrower reported her to the authorities.
David Cyrine Mercado made almost S$73,000 in profits from the operation, using most of it as capital for new loans. Another woman in cahoots with her, domestic worker Valino Marianne Pasco, earned about half that sum.
They had charged their borrowers — who were all foreign domestic workers here — a monthly interest rate of 15 per cent.
On Thursday (Jan 30), Mercado was sentenced in a district court to two-and-a-half years’ jail and a fine of S$270,000. She has to spend another nine months behind bars if she cannot pay the fine.
The 30-year-old, who worked in*software company Solderfield and had*contracted*work with*Maybank, pleaded guilty to nine counts of issuing illegal loans under the Moneylenders’ Act, with another 19 such charges taken into consideration for sentencing.*
For each charge, she could have been jailed up to four years and fined up to S$300,000.
Read also: A third of foreign domestic workers in Singapore in debt, half have no bank account: Report
Asking for a sentence of two-and-a-half years and a fine S$360,000, Deputy Public Prosecutor Kang Jia Hui described the 15 per cent monthly interest rate as exorbitant, arguing that they had exploited their borrowers who were “vulnerable with little recourse to legal avenues”.
Pasco, 42, was earlier sentenced to two years and three months’ jail and fined S$270,000 for her role in the unlicensed moneylending operation.
KEPT LARGER PORTION OF INTEREST EARNED
Read also: Hundreds of distressed domestic workers seek help over debts to licensed lenders, loan sharks
The court heard that in late 2016, Pasco’s friends asked her if she knew anyone willing to lend them money.
Pasco then told Mercado that her friends were willing to pay 20 to 25 per cent interest on the loans, claiming that it was the market rate.*
Mercado agreed to give them loans with a monthly interest rate of 15 per cent.
