Two loanshark runners arrested
Photo of seized items from the first case.
AsiaOne
Friday, Feb 21, 2014
SINGAPORE - Police have arrested two men, aged 24 and 27, for suspected involvement in loanshark-related activities in two separate cases.
In the first case, police arrested a 24-year-old man at Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 2 on February 20 at about 2.40pm for suspected loanshark harassment. Preliminary investigations indicate that he had assisted loansharks to harass debtors at their units to demand for repayment, to collect the repayment, and to perform electronic fund transactions.
Loanshark-related items, including three ATM cards, two Internet banking tokens, two sticky note pads, a marker, two mobile phones and cash amounting to $560, were seized for investigations.
In the second case, officers arrested a 27-year-old man at Yishun Avenue 7 on February 20 at about 2pm. Preliminary investigations indicate that he had assisted loansharks by collecting ATM cards from other debtors and performing electronic transfers with the ATM cards.
Both suspects will be charged in court under the Moneylenders Act 2010 (Revised Edition). Under the Moneylenders Act (Revised Edition 2010), where a bank account or ATM card of any person is used to facilitate the carrying on of the business of moneylending by an unlicensed moneylender, that person is presumed to have assisted in the carrying on of the business of an unlicensed moneylender.
First-time offenders found guilty of assisting in the carrying on of the business of an unlicensed moneylender may be fined between $30,000 and $300,000, be imprisoned for a term not exceeding four years and shall also be liable to be caned with not more than six strokes.
Those found guilty of acting on behalf of an unlicensed moneylender, committing or attempting to commit any acts of harassment shall be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, fine between $5,000 and $50,000 and shall also be liable to be caned with not more than six strokes.
