SINGAPORE - Ten people have been arrested for their suspected involvement in loansharking activities.

The suspects - six men and four women aged between 17 and 65 - were nabbed in a 12-hour long operation by officers from the Clementi Police Division on Wednesday.

In a statement on Thursday, the police said that their preliminary investigations show that one of the suspects is believed to have assisted loansharks to harass a debtor's residence, while another is believed to have given false address information to loansharks.

The rest of the suspects are believed to be "debtors-turned-assistors who were believed to have opened bank accounts and given away their Automated Teller Machine cards and Personal Identification Numbers to loansharks to facilitate their businesses", said the police.

Police investigations are ongoing. Under the Moneylenders Act 2010 (Revised Edition), first-time offenders found guilty of assisting the business of an unlicensed moneylender face a fine of between $30,000 and $300,000, and up to four years in jail. They also face up to six strokes of the cane.