Police arrested 22 men and four women for their suspected involvement in loansharking activities in two separate cases on Wednesday and Thursday.

In the first case, 25 suspects aged between 18 and 71 are believed to be debtors-turned-loanshark runners. They are believed to have opened bank accounts and given away their Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards and Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) to loansharks to facilitate their businesses, according to preliminary investigations. Three of the suspects have also assisted the loanshark syndicates to perform ATM fund transactions

In the second case, a 40-year-old man was arrested for assisting the loanshark syndicates by collecting repayment from a debtor.

Investigations are ongoing. Under the Moneylenders Act, anyone found guilty of assisting in the operations of an unlicensed moneylending business may be fined between $30,000 and $300,000 and imprisoned for up to four years. They may also be caned up to six times.