SINGAPORE - A man was charged in court on Friday with loanshark harassment by splashing green paint and placing a note on a POSB cash deposit machine.

Medi Johari, who turns 42 on Saturday, allegedly committed the act near Block 59 New Upper Changi Road while acting on behalf of an unlicensed moneylender over a loan purportedly taken by an unknown debtor.

He is said to have splashed green paint on the machine and placed a note with the particulars of two individuals, their addresses, account numbers and "O$P$" on the machine, causing damage to the property, on Oct 26.

Police said in a statement on Thursday that they received multiple reports of automated teller machines being splashed with paint between last Friday and Sunday.

In these cases, debtors' notes believed to be related to loanshark harassment were found on the ATMs.

The suspect was arrested by Bedok police officers near Syed Alwi Road on Wednesday. Mobile phones, gloves and a mask were seized during the operation.

In court on Friday, the prosecution applied for Medi to be remanded at Bedok police division for a week for investigation as he is believed to be involved in other cases.

If convicted, he could be jailed for up to five years and fined up to $50,000 and liable to at least three and not more than six strokes of the cane.