The police have arrested a 30-year-old man and a 44-year-old woman for suspected involvement in loansharking activities in two separate cases.
In the first case, officers from Ang Mo Kio Police Division arrested a man around Hougang Ave 9 on Monday afternoon. He is believed to have assisted the business of an unlicensed moneylender. Preliminary investigations indicated that the suspect is a debtor-turned-runner who allegedly carried out electronic fund transactions for loansharks via Automated Teller Machine (ATM) with his ATM cards.
Later that afternoon, officers from the same division arrested a woman around Hougang Ave 8. Preliminary investigations indicated that she is a debtor who had used her previous residential address to obtain illegal loans from loansharks. This caused the occupants of her previous home to be harassed by loansharks. She is also being investigated for failing to report the change of her residential address under the National Registration Act.
Investigations against them are ongoing.
Under the Moneylenders' Act (Revised Edition 2010), first-time offenders found guilty of assisting in the carrying on of the business of an unlicensed moneylender may be fined between $30,000 and not more than $300,000, jailed for a maximum of four years, and be caned up to six times. Anyone found guilty of providing false contact information to obtain loans from loansharks shall be liable upon conviction to imprisonment for up to a year.
Under the National Registration Act, any person who is guilty of an offence of failing to report a change of address shall be liable on conviction to a fine of up to $5,000, jail of up to 5 years, or both.
Commander of the Ang Mo Kio Police Division, Deputy Assistant Commissioner of Police Keok Tong San, commended his officers for their perseverance and commitment in the fight against loansharking activities. He said: "Police are determined to come down hard on all those who are involved in loansharking activities, causing annoyance and disruptions to public peace and security."
