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The Straits Times
Friday, Nov 02, 2012
SINGAPORE - NOT long after starting work for a loan shark, Derrick Leaw decided to call it quits.
The 22-year-old did not want to help the illegal moneylender open bank accounts, so he called the "X Ah Long" hotline, set up by the National Crime Prevention Council, to report his criminal activities.
Leaw's case was referred to the police, which led to him being sentenced to six months' jail and a $90,000 fine in July after he pleaded guilty to assisting an unlicensed moneylender.
Yesterday, the jail term was reduced to three weeks on his appeal to the High Court.
Said Justice V. K. Rajah before he cut Leaw's jail term: "What's the purpose of having a hotline when those who call the hotline are treated as equally as those caught red-handed."
The judge said it was the first time he had come across a loan shark runner who had turned himself in.
He wondered aloud whether Leaw could be made some kind of ambassador for the hotline to encourage people to come forward.
Leaw had to serve an extra nine weeks in jail as he could not pay the fine.
His lawyer, Mr Rupert Seah, argued yesterday that his client's voluntary surrender and cooperation with the police made this an appropriate case for leniency.
In 2010, Leaw had borrowed $500 from a loan shark to settle his mobile phone bills and football gambling debts.
He repaid the loan and soon after, borrowed another $500. When he could not repay, he agreed to work for the loan shark.
Leaw started by making ATM transfers and collecting documents from borrowers before moving on to helping borrowers open bank accounts, meant to help loan sharks carry out transactions without being detected.
On Sept 22, he called the hotline for people who work or have worked with loan sharks to give information anonymously.
