Harassed By Loan Sharks

[MaCe 3]

Harassed by loan sharks

THINK the 10,000 figure is startling? It gets even worse.

On one busted loan shark syndicate's database, there were 1,000 debtors. These ah longs (loan sharks) were dealing in $500,000 every month.

Another had 500 debtors, with a turnover of $80,000 a month.

The loan sharks' tactics are also getting bolder - they use debtors to do the dirty work.

And they harass the debtors' neighbours.

The notorious Ah Long San (former loan shark Chua Tiong Tiong) was jailed in 2001, but three equally dangerous characters who go by the nicknames Tiger, Carlsberg and Rolex have taken his place.

These three men run loan sharking syndicates and have groups of runners helping them.

The police have nabbed some of their henchmen in recent months.

The cops are taking a tough stance because the number of loan shark related harassment cases has gone up.

In 2005, there were 8,568 police reports lodged, before the figure shot past 10,000 last year.

In the first half of this year, four major intelligence-driven operations were conducted, resulting in the arrest of 32 suspects, police spokesman assistant superintendent Toh Boon Ngee told The New Paper.

'In April, police busted a syndicate (with 1,000 debtors)... that was responsible for at least 230 cases of harassment island-wide,' added ASPToh.

Last month, police said they had conducted raids against loan sharks at Yishun, Hougang and Eunos and arrested three men between 32 and 39 years old.

Over $100,000 in cash and other items such as computer storage devices and handphones were seized.

RECRUITING YOUTHS

From the arrests made, the police noticed a worrying trend of loan sharks recruiting youths and debtors to assist them in their unlicensed moneylending and harassment activities.

The debtors-turned-runners are forced to open bank accounts under their names for illegal money transactions.

This means the loan sharks can stay out of the picture if the police discover the accounts.

The police said that three months ago, one of Tiger's runners was arrested. This man has since been sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment and 2 strokes of the cane.

The 32-year-old had taken a loan from Tiger last November, which he could not repay.

To clear his debt, he worked as Tiger's runner, assisting the man to withdraw and transfer money through ATMs.

In another operation in June, a 19-year-old national serviceman was arrested for abetment of unlicensed moneylending. He had been working for both Carlsberg and Rolex.

Between February and June this year, he helped to collect repayments from debtors and performed ATM transactions for Rolex. Earlier, he was also helping Carlsberg collect repayments.

If the debtors could not pay, he would harass them by splashing coffee at their homes.

He has been sentenced to two years supervised probation and 150 hours of community service.

ASP Toh said: 'Police take a serious view of unlicensed moneylending and harassment offences and will continue to act against the offenders.

Police will not hesitate to take action against debtors who are found to be assisting unlicensed moneylenders in their illegal activities.'

Those who harass or intimidate anyone in connection with loans by an unlicensed moneylender face a maximum fine of $40,000, or up to three years in jail, or both.

Those who damage property as part of the harassment can also be caned.

Debtors' neighbours feel loan sharks' fury

HE owes nothing to loan sharks, yet his door has been splashed with paint on numerous occasions.

Mr Tan is the victim of the loanshark's new tactic of harassing the neighbours of debtors.

He found out that a neighbour had once borrowed money from loan sharks.

The retiree said in Mandarin: 'I know she feels bad about what happened. I never scold her. What for? It's beyond her control.

'She did apologise to us and told us that she has already cleared the debt so many years ago. But the loan sharks still return to vandalise.

'We have already informed the police. We can only leave it to the police to do their job.'

Others in Mr Tan's Bedok Reservoir Road neighbourhood have also been harassed by loan sharks.

Mr Low, 59, who lives one floor below Mr Tan, has also found fresh paint on his door on a few occasions.

Last week, another neighbour returned home after work to find the grille gate locked with a bicycle chain.

LOCKED INSIDE FLAT

Said the neighbour, Mr Ng Cheng Heng: 'My son was locked inside the flat. What if something happened and he was trapped?

'The loan shark should go after the person who owed them money, not the neighbours.'

The 48-year-old marketing executive lives with his wife and son in a four-room flat below the resident who had borrowed from the loan sharks.

When approached, the resident, who declined to be named, admitted that her husband had taken a loan from a loan shark five years ago. But they claimed they have since cleared the debt.

Said the middle-aged woman: 'I don't know why the loan sharks keep harassing my neighbours. Now when I see them I feel very malu (Malay for embarrassed).

'We don't know which loanshark is doing this. My husband even took a day off work and stayed home, hoping to catch the loan shark who vandalised my neighbours' flats. But they did not turn up.'

Her neighbour, Mr Tan, joked: 'We're no longer disturbed by the loan sharks. When they splash red paint, I'll paint my door red. And if the paint is black, my new door colour will be black.'