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90 arrested in anti-loansharking operation in Singapore

Xinhua, July 28, 2016 Adjust font size:

Singapore has arrested 90 suspects, aged between 17 and 62, in a recent islandwide anti-loan sharking operation, said the Singapore Police Force (SPF) in a statement on Thursday.

These suspects, 61 men and 29 women, are suspected to be involved in loansharking activities, SPF said.

During the three-day operation from Monday to Wednesday, officers from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the six Police divisions conducted simultaneous raids at multiple locations in Singapore.

Preliminary investigations revealed that one suspect is believed to be a runner who had assisted the loansharks in their businesses by carrying out Automated Teller Machine (ATM) transfers.

The police have also arrested four suspects who are 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 (PINs) to loansharks to facilitate their unlicensed moneylending businesses.

Investigations against all the suspects are ongoing.

Under the Moneylenders' Act, when a bank account or ATM card of any person is used to facilitate moneylending by an unlicensed moneylender, that person is presumed to have assisted in the carrying on the business of unlicensed moneylending.

First-time offenders found guilty of assisting in the business of unlicensed moneylending may be fined between 30,000 and 300,000 Singapore dollars (1 Singapore dollar equals to 0.74 U.S. dollar), be imprisoned for a term of up to four years and shall also be liable to be punished with caning of up to six strokes.

First-time offenders found guilty of acting on behalf of an unlicensed moneylender, committing or attempting to commit any acts of harassment shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of up to five years, a fine of between 5,000 and 50,000 Singapore dollars, and shall also be liable to caning of between three and six strokes. Endit