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Singapore police arrests 92 in anti-loansharking operation

Xinhua, December 24, 2015 Adjust font size:

A total of 92 people had been arrested in a three-day anti-loansharking operation in Singapore, police said on Thursday.

They include 71 men and 21 women, aged between 18 and 64, according to a police media release.

Among them, two suspects had given out loans to borrowers, two others are believed to be runners who had assisted loansharks in their businesses by carrying out ATM transfers, while another two suspects are believed to be harassers who had carried out acts of loanshark harassment by splashing paint and scrawling loanshark-related graffiti on walls.

One suspect is believed to have provided false contact information when obtaining loans from loansharks. The remaining 85 suspects are believed to have opened bank accounts and given away their ATM cards and Personal Identification Numbers to loansharks, police said.

Investigations are still underway.

Under the law of Singapore, first-time offenders found guilty or assisting in the business of unlicensed moneylending could be fined between 30,000 and 300,000 Singapore dollars (21,300 and 213,000 U.S. dollars), and could be jailed for up to four years, and caned.

Any person guilty of providing false contact information to obtain loans from loanshark could be jailed for up to 12 months, while any person guilty of failing to report a change of address could be fined up to 5,000 Singapore dollars (3,550 U.S. dollars) and be jailed for up to five years, police said. Enditem