SINGAPORE - Three men and a woman have been arrested for their involvement in loan shark harassment, the police said in a news release on Thursday (May 4).

The 36-year-old woman was arrested on Wednesday along Bishan Street 23, for a case in Bishan.

A unit at Bishan Street 13 had been found splashed with coffee, and loan shark-related graffiti was also found on the wall near the affected unit. The police received a report about this case on Feb 23.

Separately, two men aged 26 and 32 were arrested for a case in Choa Chu Kang.

Police received a report of a case of loan shark harassment on April 28, where a residential unit in Choa Chu Kang was splashed with paint. Graffiti was also found on the wall at the lift lobby.

Jurong Division officers identified the two suspects through extensive ground enquiries and with the help of footage from police cameras.

The men were arrested along Lorong 7 Toa Payoh on Wednesday.

The pair are believed to have carried out similar acts of harassment at housing estates in Tampines, Serangoon and Sembawang, preliminary investigations have shown.

Police seized personal clothes and two mobile phones from the men as case exhibits.

A fourth person - a 39-year-old man - was on Thursday arrested along Havelock Road for his involvement in several cases in multiple areas.

Police had received several reports between April 25 and May 3 regarding gates of residential units being chained and locked up in Ang Mo Kio, Hougang, Punggol, Yishun, Sembawang and Queenstown.

Again, loan shark-related graffiti was found on the walls next to the victims' units.

Officers from Ang Mo Kio Division and Queenstown Neighbourhood Police Centre identified the suspect using images from police cameras and after making enquiries on the ground.

Under the Moneylenders Act 2010 (Revised Edition), first-time offenders found guilty of loan shark harassment can be jailed up to five years, fined at least $5,000 and not more than $50,000, and receive up to 6 strokes of the cane.