One maid's horror story: 4 moneylenders, 4 loan sharks and $4,500 in debt

Within a month, she had debts of around $4,500 in total from four licensed moneylenders and four loan sharks, some of whom started to demand their money back. PHOTO: REUTERS
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When her brother lost his civil engineer job in Qatar, Filipino maid Natalia (not her real name), 30, took it upon herself to help him clear a debt of around 40,000 pesos (S$1,067) owed to an employment agency.

Six months later, in October last year, she found herself further in debt when her husband cheated on her and left her to repay a loan of around $400 from loan sharks.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on July 17, 2019, with the headline One maid's horror story: 4 moneylenders, 4 loan sharks and $4,500 in debt. Subscribe