Big loan-shark racket busted; 17 held in islandwide raids
A SUSPECTED loan-shark syndicate believed to be raking in more than $500,000 a month was smashed in an islandwide police operation on Thursday night.
Police found more than $130,000 in cash and arrested 17 men, making it one of the largest busts since the formation of the police's Anti-Unlicensed Moneylending Taskforce (AUML) last year.
Police said they found drugs, pocket switchblades and a large knife on the suspects.
Releasing details of the raid yesterday, assistant director of the police's Specialised Crime Division, Deputy Assistant Commissioner (DAC) Wong Choong Mann, said the syndicate had the records of 1,000 debtors in their database.
Said DAC Wong: 'They are believed to be responsible for at least 230 cases of loan-shark harassment islandwide.'
More than 60 police officers were involved in raiding 15 places in the five-hour operation, which began at about 8pm on Thursday.
The 17 men - including a man in his early 30s suspected of being the syndicate's chief - were aged between 17 and 38.
They were found in their Housing Board flats in Woodlands, Sembawang, Yishun, Ang Mo Kio, Toa Payoh, Serangoon, Hougang and Changi.
One man was found with 10 sachets of illegal drugs and another was found with a book, which police believe is a ledger containing records of money collected for an illegal lottery.
Said the head of the AUML, deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Yokeswaran Muniswaran: 'Except for the 17-year-old, most of the men have criminal records.
'They are very high-tech. In one of the raids, the suspect was already in the process of trying to erase all the information in his laptop's hard drive.'
Police found several other items, including ATM cards, pre-paid mobile phone cards, tins of paint and marker pens.
Loan-shark syndicates often use paint and pens to vandalise the doors of debtors who fail to pay up.
They typically provide loans with an upfront and subsequent weekly interest rate of 20 per cent.
For example, if a debtor took out a $1,000 loan, he would be given $800 and would have to pay interest of $160 a week until he can pay up the full $800.
Some debtors who cannot pay up end up becoming runners for the loan sharks or lending them their identity cards to buy pre-paid mobile phone cards.
Some even let loan sharks use their bank accounts to collect payments.
Earlier this year, Senior Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs Ho Peng Kee said in Parliament that the number of reported harassment cases rose from 5,809 in 2004 to 10,221 cases last year. A total of 577 cases were brought before the Subordinate Courts, the highest number in seven years.
In September 2005, the laws against illegal moneylending were beefed up in an attempt to cripple the syndicates before 2010, when the integrated resorts open and the market for illegal loans could boom.
First-time offenders can be fined between $20,000 and $200,000, jailed up to two years, or both. They can also be caned.
Those caught damaging debtors' property can be fined up to $40,000, jailed up to three years, or both.
Convicted loan sharks cannot travel overseas for 10 years after their release from jail, to stop them setting up shop overseas.
The money and property of convicted loan sharks and runners can also be confiscated.
These laws also apply to the debtors who become runners for the loan sharks.
Items seized
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