SINGAPORE - A 67-year-old man was arrested on Sunday (Nov 24) for allegedly running an illegal moneylending business.
Preliminary investigations showed that the man is believed to have issued loans and provided unlicensed remittance services to foreign domestic workers, the police said in a statement on Tuesday night.
Mobile phones and remittance records were seized when officers from the Criminal Investigation Department and the Commercial Affairs Department arrested the man.
A 40-year-old maid, who is believed to have helped the suspect to provide remittance services, is assisting in investigations.
The police declined to provide more details when The Straits Times contacted them.
Anyone found guilty of running or assisting in an unlicensed moneylending business can be fined between $30,000 and $300,000, jailed for up to four years and punished with up to six strokes of the cane.
Men above the age of 50 and women cannot be caned.
Foreign workers who have assisted or borrowed money from unlicensed moneylenders may also be repatriated and barred from working in Singapore.
Anyone found guilty of operating a remittance business without a licence can be fined up to $100,000, jailed for up to two years, or both.
Repeat offenders can be fined up to $10,000 for every day that they continue to run the unlicensed remittance business after being found guilty.
Foreign workers found carrying out such activities will be referred to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) for investigation. They can be fined up to $20,000, jailed for up to two years, or both.
In their statement, the police said they have observed that foreign workers, including foreign domestic workers, are increasingly borrowing money from illegal moneylenders.
"In some instances, these foreign workers would assist the unlicensed moneylenders in their illegal activities or run the operation themselves."
There has also been an increase in foreign borrowers - mostly foreign domestic workers - taking out loans from licensed moneylenders.
In the first six months of this year, there were 53,000 such borrowers, compared with 55,000 for the whole of last year. There were only 6,000 foreign borrowers in 2016.
The police said they have engaged the relevant ministries and partners - such as MOM, the Centre for Domestic Employees and the Foreign Domestic Worker Association for Social Support and Training - to teach foreign workers not to borrow from unlicensed moneylenders.
The police advised members of the public who wish to remit money to another country to do so through a licensed bank or remittance agent.
They also urged employers of foreign workers to remind them to stay away from illegal moneylenders and not to work with or assist these moneylenders.
Members of the public can call the police at 999 or the X-Ah Long hotline on 1800-924-5664 if they suspect or know of anyone involved in unlicensed moneylending.
