• About Us
    • Fact Checking Policy
    • Ownership & funding information
    • Volunteer
  • Subscribe
  • Letter submission
    • Submissions Policy
  • Contact Us
The Online Citizen Asia
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Singapore
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Politics
    • Civil Society
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Singapore
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Politics
    • Civil Society
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
No Result
View All Result
The Online Citizen Asia
No Result
View All Result

129 arrested in anti-loansharking blitz

by Neyla Zannia
15/07/2019
in Crime
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0

94 men and 35 women, aged between 17 and 82, were arrested for their suspected involvement in loansharking activities in an operation that was conducted from 8 to 10 July 2019.
Officers from the Criminal Investigation Department and seven Police Land Divisions conducted simultaneous raids at multiple locations island-wide during the three-day operation, resulting in the arrests.
Singapore Police Force (SPF) stated that preliminary investigations revealed that 28 suspects are believed to be runners who had carried out Automated Teller Machine (ATM) transfers on behalf of loansharks.
Four suspects are believed to have carried out acts of loanshark harassment by splashing paint and scrawling loanshark-related graffiti on walls.
While another two suspects are believed to have carried on a business of unlicensed moneylending and a suspect is believed to have provided false contact information for the purpose of obtaining loans.
The remaining 94 suspects are believed to have opened bank accounts and given away their ATM cards and Personal Identification Numbers to loansharks to facilitate their unlicensed moneylending businesses.
Investigations against all the suspects are ongoing, the police noted.
The police stressed that opening a bank account, distributing pamphlets, acting as a look-out, being a runner or acting as a harasser for loansharks are criminal activities that have serious consequences, such as a hefty fine, jail term and even caning and that it will take tough enforcement action against those involved in the loansharking business, regardless of their roles, and they will face the full brunt of the law.
Under the Moneylenders’ Act (Revised Edition 2010), when a bank account or ATM card of any person is used to facilitate unlicensed moneylending, that person is presumed to have assisted in the carrying on the business of unlicensed moneylending.

  • First-time offenders found guilty of carrying on or assisting in a business of unlicensed moneylending shall be punished with a fine between $30,000 and $300,000, 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 a fine of between $5,000 and $50,000, be imprisoned for a term of up to five years, and shall also be liable to be punished with caning between three and six strokes.

The police said that all loan advertisements via text messages or online platforms are likely to be from loan sharks as licensed moneylenders are not permitted to advertise their services.
It also reminds members of the public not to reply or respond to such advertisements as they will be likely to be harassed by the loansharks thereafter. The public can report the number as spam and 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.

For just US$7.50 a month, sign up as a subscriber on The Online Citizen Asia (and enjoy ads-free experience on our site) to support our mission to transform TOC into an alternative mainstream press.

Related Posts

Why is Gautam Adani’s Indian empire in turmoil?
AFP

Adani shares dive again as Indian opposition stages demos

06/02/2023
Josephine Teo defends SPH Media Trust in Parliament on its circulation scandal; Commitment of S$900 million funding will still be made available
Singapore

Josephine Teo defends SPH Media Trust in Parliament on its circulation scandal; Commitment of S$900 million funding will still be made available

06/02/2023
Japanese-Canadian junior high school girl breaks national record with 3km in 9:02 mins
Japan

“I want my normal life back,” Sherry Drury withdraws from National Junior High School Tournament due to overheated public attention

06/02/2023
FY2023 Budget Statement to be delivered by Lawrence Wong on 14 Feb, 3.30pm
Singapore

FY2023 Budget Statement to be delivered by Lawrence Wong on 14 Feb, 3.30pm

06/02/2023
AFP

Scholar, lawmakers and journalist among Hong Kongers on trial

06/02/2023
Netizens urge HDB to investigate another “unoccupied” flat listed for sale
Housing

Netizens urge HDB to investigate another “unoccupied” flat listed for sale

06/02/2023
Subscribe
Connect withD
Login
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
Notify of
Connect withD
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Latest posts

Why is Gautam Adani’s Indian empire in turmoil?

Adani shares dive again as Indian opposition stages demos

06/02/2023
Josephine Teo defends SPH Media Trust in Parliament on its circulation scandal; Commitment of S$900 million funding will still be made available

Josephine Teo defends SPH Media Trust in Parliament on its circulation scandal; Commitment of S$900 million funding will still be made available

06/02/2023
Japanese-Canadian junior high school girl breaks national record with 3km in 9:02 mins

“I want my normal life back,” Sherry Drury withdraws from National Junior High School Tournament due to overheated public attention

06/02/2023
FY2023 Budget Statement to be delivered by Lawrence Wong on 14 Feb, 3.30pm

FY2023 Budget Statement to be delivered by Lawrence Wong on 14 Feb, 3.30pm

06/02/2023

Scholar, lawmakers and journalist among Hong Kongers on trial

06/02/2023
Netizens urge HDB to investigate another “unoccupied” flat listed for sale

Netizens urge HDB to investigate another “unoccupied” flat listed for sale

06/02/2023

Keppel condones and retains senior executives involved in bribery to get contracts

06/02/2023
7.8-magnitude quake hits southern Turkey: USGS

7.8-magnitude quake hits southern Turkey: USGS

06/02/2023

Trending posts

Former Singaporean shares change of life in Australia with annual pay of S$80,000 as a plumber

Former Singaporean shares change of life in Australia with annual pay of S$80,000 as a plumber

by Yee Loon
30/01/2023
25

...

Cognizant India transfers staff to work in Singapore as recently as this year

Local IT grads can’t find jobs while engineers constantly transferred from India to work in SG under CECA

by Correspondent
05/02/2023
67

...

They have done a fine job of confusing us about the jobs situation

They have done a fine job of confusing us about the jobs situation

by Augustine Low
01/02/2023
47

...

Adani’s brother runs SG company and registers as director with local ID

Adani’s brother runs SG company and registers as director with local ID

by Correspondent
03/02/2023
26

...

Excessively charging for an essential need, and calling it affordable because people still can pay for it?

by Terry Xu
31/01/2023
40

...

Singapore Law Watch removes commentary on CPIB’s decision to not prosecute former Keppel executives

Singapore Law Watch removes commentary on CPIB’s decision to not prosecute former Keppel executives

by The Online Citizen
02/02/2023
19

...

July 2019
M T W T F S S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  
« Jun   Aug »

The Online Citizen is a regional online publication based in Taiwan and formerly Singapore’s longest-running independent online media platform.

Navigation

  • Editorial
  • Commentaries
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Community

Support

  • Contact Us
  • Letter submission
  • Membership subscription

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Fact Checking Policy
  • Privacy Policy

© 2022 - 2023 The Online Citizen Asia

No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Civil Society
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
  • Politics
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Subscribers login

© 2022 - 2023 The Online Citizen Asia

wpDiscuz