13 arrests in 12 hours as police crack down on suspected loan shark activities

SINGAPORE - Thirteen people were arrested in 12 hours in a police crackdown on suspected loan shark activities on Monday.

Officers nabbed eight men and five women aged between 21 and 59.

Preliminary investigations indicate that the suspects are debtors-turned-helpers who had opened bank accounts and given away their ATM cards and PIN details to unlicensed moneylenders.

First-time offenders found guilty of assisting in the business of an unlicensed moneylender, can be fined between $30,000 and $300,000, jailed up to four years and face up to six strokes of the cane.

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