The Police have arrested a 42-year-old woman for her suspected involvement in a series of loanshark harassment cases.
The Police were alerted to several reports of loanshark harassment between November to December 2021, where victims either received harassment letters sent by post to their residential addresses island-wide or harassment emails sent to their workplaces demanding for repayment.
Through investigations, officers from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) established the identity of the woman and arrested her on 14 December 2021. Preliminary investigations revealed that she had assisted loansharks to send harassment letters to the victims. She had also allegedly assisted loansharks to send harassment emails to the employers of victims. Some of the items seized during the arrest include a stack of loanshark advertisement flyers, envelopes and stamps.
Police investigations against the woman are ongoing. Under the Moneylenders Act (Revised Edition 2010), first-time offenders found guilty of committing or attempting to commit any acts of harassment on behalf of a loanshark shall be punished with imprisonment term of up to five years, a fine of between $5,000 and $50,000, and caning of between three and six strokes.
The Police have zero tolerance towards loanshark harassment activities. Those who deliberately cause annoyance to the public or disrupt public safety, peace, and security, will be dealt with severely in accordance with the law.
Members of the public are advised to stay away from loansharks and not to work with or assist them in any way. The public can call the Police at ‘999’ or the X-Ah Long hotline at 1800-924-5664 if they suspect or know of anyone who could be involved in illegal loansharking activities.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
15 December 2021 @ 4:30 PM