Police have arrested two men, aged 20 and 27, for their suspected involvement in loansharking activities in two separate cases.
2 On 11 March 2015 at about 11.20am, acting on information received, officers from Jurong Police Division arrested a 27-year-old man at Raffles Place for his suspected involvement in loansharking activities. Preliminary investigations indicated that the suspect is a debtor-turned-runner, who assisted the loanshark syndicates by facilitating the debtors to open bank accounts and procured their Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards with Personal Identification Numbers (PINs). Thereafter, he used the collected ATM cards to perform ATM transactions related to unlicensed moneylending businesses. Upon his arrest, 2 ATM cards, 1 handphone and cash amounting to S$500/- were seized.
3 On the same day, at about 1.30pm, through follow-up investigations, officers from Jurong Police Division also arrested a 20-year-old man at Block 288E Bukit Batok Street 25 for his suspected involvement in at least six cases of loansharking harassment. Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect had carried out island-wide loansharking harassments at Marsiling, Woodlands, Yishun, Hougang and Bukit Panjang by splashing paint at the main doors of debtors’ residences, padlocking the main gates with bicycle locks and scrawling graffiti on the walls.
4 Both suspects will be charged in State Courts on 13 March 2015. Under the Moneylenders Act 2010 (Revised Edition), first-time offenders convicted for assisting in the business of unlicensed moneylending may be fined not less than $30,000 and not more $300,000, be imprisoned for a term not exceeding four years and shall also be liable to be punished with caning not more than six strokes. First time offenders convicted for loanshark harassment shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of up to 5 years, a fine of not less than $5,000 and not more than $50,000, and shall also be liable to caning of not less than 3 and not more than 6 strokes.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
12 March 2015 @ 6:30 PM