Loan Sharks n LoanSharking

[zuoom]

http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,195862,00.html?

Used as 'shark bait' by her neighbour 
CCTV cameras installed, so loan sharks target woman's home and get her to chase for money
By Elysa Chen
 
March 16, 2009


INNOCENT TARGET: Loan sharks have resorted to splashing paint on Madam Yeo's house to avoid CCTV cameras. PICTURES: COURTESY OF MADAM YEO, ELYSA CHEN 

SHE does not owe them money, but loan sharks are harassing her and splashing paint on her door and windows.

Apparently because her neighbour, who owes them money, has installed two closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras outside his flat.

Madam Yeo, 44, who lives with her two teenage children in a flat on Petir Road in Pasir Panjang, called up the loan sharks to tell them that they had targeted the wrong flat. The loan sharks had written a number near the spalshed paint.

She said: 'At first, I thought they made a mistake, because our unit numbers are similar.'

She was shocked to hear their reply: 'We know. We splashed paint at your house because you need to chase your neighbour for the money'.

Madam Yeo asked that we not reveal her full name as she felt it would be embarrassing, and because of the nature of work.

She holds three jobs - as a childcare centre supervisor, a tuition teacher and a part-timer at a retail store on weekends.

She said: 'It's an economic crisis. Everyone's hard-up. But it is really unfair. Don't they see that they are bullying people who are already down and out?

'The loan sharks are trying to use us as free labour. They can't do the job, so they get us to do it for them.'



Madam Yeo suspects that the loan sharks are resorting to such tactics because her neighbour installed CCTV cameras in front of his house.

Her flat is one of two units that are obscured from the view of the cameras.

Bullied

She said: 'He has the CCTV and he doesn't answer the calls from the loan sharks. He protects himself but gets the rest of us into trouble.'

Around 2pm on 7 Mar, Madam Yeo heard 'shuffling' noises outside her flat.

When she went out to investigate, she realised that blue paint had been splashed all over her door, windows and floor.

This is the third time Madam Yeo and her family have been subjected to such bullying from loan sharks.

Four years ago, a big-sized man knocked on her door to demand money from her, she said.

Then, two years ago, her unit number was written all over the block.

She said: 'At that time, people were staring at us as though we were the ones who owed money.'

Both times, she went to tell her neighbour about what had happened, in the hope that he would repay his debts.

She said: 'But his reaction was just to stare at me and say, 'go and report police, lor'.'

Madam Yeo said she made police reports about the previous cases, but she did not make a report about the most recent case.

She said she felt there was little the police could do.

Last Sunday, the day after the incident, her neighbour came to her flat to clean the paint from her windows, said Madam Yeo.

She said: 'Perhaps that was his way of apologising.'

When The New Paper spoke to the neighbour, Mr Tey Chin Guan, 52, he explained that he installed the CCTV outside his house because his three children, 3, 5 and 6, like to sit at the gate.

Mr Tey, a lorry driver, said in Mandarin: 'Can you imagine, if the loan sharks come when my children are sitting there like that?

'My wife has been very scared, and has been scolding me.'

He said he is some $20,000 in debt, and owes money to 20 different loan sharks.

Mr Tey, who earns $2,000 a month, said he fell into debt because of his gambling habit, but claimed he has not gambled for the last two months.

However, even with the CCTV cameras, loan sharks are still splashing paint at his door, said Mr Tey.

'If I don't have a CCTV camera there, I may get three runners a day coming to harass my family,' he said.

'I feel paiseh (Hokkien for embarrassed) that my neighbours are suffering. That's why I went over to her flat to wipe the paint off her windows.'

via : http://www.singsupplies.com/showthread.php?t=21550

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if you ask me, i say it's classic Sun Tze strategy.

[zuoom]

translation:

Getting debts back doesn't have to be so serious.
These boys do their job with a smile on their face.
Raipe Kuusankoski incurred some serious debt at an Estonian Casino, banged three whores "For free", insulted bouncers and drove a taxi through a minibar.

But in no time, Igor and Vasili came and gave him a little lesson about debts and all of a sudden everything was well again.
Everything solved by negotiating..

via : http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2327768

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Home > Breaking News > Singapore > Story
April 9, 2009
5 held in loan-shark crackdown                             

                         
Police are looking for these three people to help in investigations into two cases of harassment by loan sharks. The first case involves the man pictured on the left; the other case involves two teenagers (next picture). -- PHOTOS: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE





FIVE men have been arrested on suspicion of engaging in loan-shark activities this week, and police are on the lookout for three more. The wanted trio can help in investigations into two cases of harassment by loan sharks in February and last month. Closed-circuit television footage of the first case showed a man in Pasir Ris Street 11 decked out in a dark shirt and carrying a sling bag. Footage of the second incident features two teenagers in bermudas going down the stairs of a housing block in Tampines Street 83.

The five men already in custody were rounded up over two days. On Tuesday night, three men aged between 26 and 43 were caught in a four-hour operation involving raids in Yishun, Tampines and Henderson. The three are believed to be linked to a syndicate behind about 250 cases of debtor harassment in the past year. During the raids, the police seized debtor records, bank books, a desktop computer and cellphones. On Wednesday morning, two more men in their early 20s were nabbed by officers on patrol in Yishun. The pair had allegedly broken a window of a flat there to intimidate the debtor into paying up.

via : http://www.singsupplies.com/showthread.php?t=24008

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hmm, those pictures are clear enough?

[zuoom]

Home > Breaking News > Singapore > Story
April 7, 2009
2 loansharks arrested
By Derrick Ho

TWO men suspected of loansharking activities were arrested on Monday morning. At about 2.20am, Police conducting a road block in the vicinity of Yishun housing estate found a stack of cash deposit receipts and ATM cards in a car they stopped. Marker pens, a few cans of paints and debtor records were also found, said a police statement on Tuesday.

The two suspects, both Chinese, aged 38 and 42, were immediately placed under arrest for their suspected involvement in loansharking activities.
Both men will be charged in Court on Tuesday with assisting an unlicensed moneylender by harassing the borrower and besetting the residence.
If convicted, a first-time offender may face a maximum $40,000 fine, or three years jail, or both. He may also get four strokes of the cane if damage was caused to any property.

http://www.singsupplies.com/showthread.php?t=23956

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Loanshark harassment cases rise sharply
Government signals strongly that borrowers too may face action
By Sujin Thomas & Teh Joo Lin


PHOTO: STOMP READER

WHEN times are bad, loansharks start surfacing.
In just the first three months of the year, police had to deal with nearly 4,000 cases over their harassment tactics. That is double the number in the same period last year.
It has become so bad that police are considering nailing those who borrow from loansharks as well.
Said Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng yesterday: 'This will hold borrowers accountable if their reckless borrowing or gambling habits endanger the safety and security of the community.'
Another reason he gave for making such borrowing an offence: Many borrowers end up working as syndicate runners to pay off their debts, extending the circle of crime even further.
This is the second time that the issue of making borrowers pay, so to speak, has been raised. In February last year, the ministry said it would study a proposal to punish those who go to loansharks to feed their gambling vices; and who abet loansharking activities.
If the ministry goes ahead, it will be yet another step to curb illegal lending made over the years. Stiffer penalties were put in place in 2005, to double the maximum punishments for first-time loansharks to a $200,000 fine and a two-year jail term.
A rise in certain crimes like loansharking activities and cheating usually accompanies economic downturns as more desperate people turn to illegal ways to get money. During the 1998 Asian financial crisis, the number of crime cases rose 8 per cent over the previous year's. During the 2003 Sars-induced recession, it rose by 5 per cent.
To help people obtain cheap credit from legitimate sources, the Moneylenders Act was changed just last November to ease some existing restrictions on advertising, methods of loan disbursements and collection of payments, as well as interest rates.
Mr Wong, who was speaking at a seminar at Republic Polytechnic to discuss the work plan for the police force for the coming year, also said that new tools are being employed to arrest loansharks.
Police have acquired more closed-circuit cameras that can be easily installed and removed. This means they can be used to capture runners in the act of harassing those who owe syndicates money.
Footage from camera shots of suspected loanshark runners at work in Toa Payoh and Hougang has already been put online at i-Witness, a collaboration between the police and The Straits Times' RazorTV.
Yesterday, Mr Wong also told the 450 people - mainly police officers - present that the men and women in blue would have a greater presence on the island.
A new neighbourhood police centre will be set up in June at the Police Cantonment Complex in Outram, before it moves at the end of the year to Marina Bay, near the integrated resort. The other 32 police centres, which serve residents round the clock, will be strengthened with 220 new police officers.
As for the work of the Police Coast Guard, Mr Wong reported that in the first three months of the year, it made 35 arrests, and seized six boats and about 8,100 cartons of contraband cigarettes. It also chased away 58 suspicious vessels.
'If illegal immigrants and contraband cigarettes can be smuggled in, so too can terrorists and explosives,' he said.
'Although no terrorist plot has succeeded so far, we cannot afford to let our guard down. Singapore continues to be a prized target for terrorists.'
sujint@sph.com.sg
joolin@sph.com.sg

via : http://www.singsupplies.com/showthread.php?t=24990

==========

looks like loansharks are the flavour of the month now...

[zuoom]

http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Crime/Story/A1Story20090420-136184.html
   
Mon, Apr 20, 2009
my paper 


 
Singapore's youngest loanshark victim? 
 
by Chen Jing Ting

THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD Tommy (not his real name) could well be Singapore's youngest loanshark victim, chalking up a $30,000 debt.

Hooked on Internet soccer betting, he would place bets on the Spanish Primera Liga, on as many as nine games a day.

He started with $50 bets with his friends and eventually moved on to $1,000 wagers online, using his friends' accounts.

When his losses started piling up, those friends introduced him to loansharks to make good on his debts.

His father, a company director, and his mother, an administration executive, found out when the loansharks came a-calling.

Youths like Tommy are worrying counsellors, who are seeing more young Singaporeans hooked on gambling.

One Hope Centre, which counsels youths with gambling addictions, saw 12 such youths last year. This year, in the first three months alone, it has already seen eight.

The Reverend Dr Edward Job, executive director of Christian Care Services Singapore, said: '(Tommy) doesn't think he has a problem, so he doesn't want to be counselled. I could only advise his parents to block betting websites (on his computer) and cut off his mobile phone's Internet access.'

On a profile of young gambling addicts, One Hope's executive director, the Reverend Tan Lye Keng, said they are mainly in their 20s and usually turn to Internet soccer betting.

Such websites provide those who bet with credit, so youths do not need much capital before they start to bet.

'The gamblers are tech-savvy and can easily access the Internet through computers and mobile phones,' explained the Rev Tan.

jtchen@sph.com.sg

http://www.singsupplies.com/showthread.php?t=25576

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Simple translation:

Within the last week, 2 BMWs, of which the owners are free of debt, were sprayed with O$P$ (short form for owe money pay money).  It is believed to be the acts of Ah Long (loan shark).

Case 1:

On Sunday afternoon, property agent Mr Chew parked his BMW at the multi-storey car park at Hougang Street 31, blk 373A.

After collecting the car and driving it to Marine Parade, Mr Chew observed that the security staff of private apartments kept staring at his car.

When he returned from a stop over to buy newspaper, he then realised that his car was sprayed with the wording of O$P$ and a handphone number (see the photo at the Chinese section).

Mr Chew said that he did not borrow money from Ah Long.  He was also not aware of any of his neighbours borrowing money from Ah Long.

The case has been reported to the Police.  Police will be stepping up patrol in the area.

Case 2:

On Wednesday afternoon, the lady owner of a BMW parked her car at the open car park at Geylang East Ave 1, blk 134.

Upon her return, the car was sprayed with the wording of O$P$ and the address of the debtor.  She reported the case to the police.

Following the address sprayed on the car, the reporter went to Aljunied Crescent blk 109.  An old-age couple there mentioned that the incident was caused by their son.

Their son is addicted to gambling.  He moved out 8 years ago after marriage, but is untraceable after divorce.

Sine Mar this year, there has been Ah Long going to the old couple's house and 4 of their neighbours' to spray wordings and splash paints onto their doors.

The old couple installed surveillance camera.  Ah Long then shifted the "art" word to the common area.  The old couple did not expect the Ah Long to go to the extend of spraying their address on innocent car.

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阿窿出新招：2宝马车被喷讨债大字报

Source:  OMY
日期: 01/05/2009 新闻来源: 联合晚报 记者: 管倩莹 陈凯松 摄影: 叶振忠



房屋经济周卫民的宝马轿车被喷漆追债，令他大叹倒霉


阿窿追债出狠招，两辆宝马轿车喷上追债大字报满街跑！

本报接获两起投诉，两名车主没有借阿窿，可是车子却被人喷漆。相信这是阿窿的新追债桥段，向无辜居民的爱车下手，逼债主出面还钱。


第一起：后港

房屋经纪把宝马轿车停在后港多层停车场，车身被喷写“O$P$”。

周卫民（70岁）说，他是在星期天下午，把灰色的宝马轿车停在后港31街第373A座多层停车场2楼。

“我过后开车到马林百列时，发现附近公寓的保安员一直盯着我的车子看，我还不以为意开车回家。”

他回到住家附近买报纸，回去取车时，远远就看到左边车身出现追债大字报，上面喷写“O$P$”，还喷有一个手机号码。

“我根本没有欠钱，还以为是隔壁一辆红色汽车的车身因为灯光照射，走近一看，赫然发现确实是我的宝马中招！”

周卫民说，他没有向阿窿借钱，也没听说有邻居欠债。他实在想不通，为什么会惹来这样的麻烦。

警方受询时证实接获报案，并表示会在该区加强巡逻，也呼吁公众若看到可疑人物在附近徘徊，应马上报警。


第二起：芽笼东

一名女车主在星期三下午，将宝马轿车停在芽笼东1道第134座后的露天停车场，取车时赫然发现车身被喷上追债大字报，还有欠债人的地址，气得当场报警。

记者过后根据喷写在车身上的地址，找到阿裕尼弯第109座组屋。一对70多岁的夫妇说，闯祸的是他们40岁的儿子。

“儿子好赌，8年前结婚后搬出去住，后来离婚了，我们也找不到他。今年3月，开始有阿窿上门泼漆写大字报，还连累其他4户邻居也被殃及，我们真的感到很抱歉。”

老夫妇说，他们过后在住家外安装电眼，可以拍到整个走廊的情况，相信阿窿担心被拍到，所以不敢再上门，不过却在楼梯口的墙壁上涂写大字报。

不过老夫妇万万没有想到，阿窿竟然跑到芽笼东，把他们的住家地址喷写在无辜居民的车子上。

via : http://forums.vr-zone.com/world-news-singapore-affairs/426204-ah-long-new-tactic-spraying-o-p-innocent-cars.html

[zuoom]

[tags] Loanshark Loansharks

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http://www.insing.com/news/singapore/Three-men-arrested-for-loanshark-related-activities/id-d3d30100?nav=50000

SINGAPORE: Three loanshark runners, aged between 24 and 30, were arrested at a police road block on Wednesday morning. The three were stopped in their vehicle along Sembawang Road at about 3:30am.

A search of their vehicle turned up paraphernalia such as bottles of paint, a bicycle padlock, papers believed to contain debtors' records, marker pens and a pair of gloves. Cash amounting to $11,000 was also found.

Separately, police are also looking for six men to help them with investigations into five separate cases of loanshark harassment that took place since July 2009.

In the first case, police are looking for a man described as having a fair complexion, with dyed light brown hair and believed to be in his early 20s. He was last seen wearing a black short-sleeved collared shirt with a yellow logo print on the left and an emblem of the American state flag on the right.

He was also wearing dark-coloured pants and carrying a white sling bag. He is believed to be connected to a loanshark harassment case reported in the vicinity of McNair Road.

In the second case, police are looking for a man, also described as having a fair complexion and believed to be in his 20s.

He was last seen in the vicinity of Marina Square wearing a black-and-white striped collared shirt with the number '3' on the right sleeve and back of the shirt, black bermudas and white shoes.

In the third case, the police are looking for a man said to have a dark complexion, sporting a thin moustache and believed to be in his 20s. He was last seen wearing a black short-sleeved round neck T-shirt and blue jeans.

The man is wanted in connection with a case of loanshark harassment reported in April 2009 in the vicinity of Simei Street 1.

In the fourth case, police are looking for a man with a fair complexion, also believed to be in his 20s. He was last seen wearing a black long-sleeved shirt with grey bermudas, and was carrying a black motorcycle helmet.

In the last case, police are looking for two men of dark complexion, believed to be in their 30s to 40s. The first man was last seen wearing a red and white short-sleeved soccer jersey with dark coloured collar, and dark coloured pants with black shoes.

He was also carrying a dark coloured haversack and wearing a light coloured wrist accessory on his right hand. He was sporting short-cropped hair, thinning on the top.

His accomplice was last seen wearing a black polo T-shirt and black bermudas with white shoes. He was also wearing a dark-coloured watch on his left hand.

The two men are wanted in connection with a case of loanshark harassment reported in August 2009 in the vicinity of Bendeemer Road.

Anyone with information on the subjects can call the Police Hotline at 1800-255-0000.

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Home > Breaking News > Singapore > Story
Oct 22, 2009
8 nabbed in loanshark raid
By Reico Wong

EIGHT more people - five men and three women - were arrested for suspected involvement in loanshark activities in pre-dawn raids carried out by police on Thursday. During the three-hour operation, raids were conducted simultaneously at various housing estates such as Bedok North, Boon Lay, Eunos, Ghim Moh, Jurong West, Tampines, Toa Payoh and Serangoon. Police also seized loanshark paraphernalia such as ATM cards, bank books, bank statements and stacks of bank slips. Preliminary investigations indicated that five of the eight suspects, aged between 19 and 33 years, had assisted loansharks by allowing their bank accounts to be used for illegal moneylending activities to offset their debts. The others also did the same in return for fast cash. Investigations are on- going. First-time offenders found guilty of operating as loansharks or assisting loansharks in their business may be fined up to $200,000, or jailed up to two years, or both. Repeat offenders can be fined up to $200,000 and jailed up to five years.

via : http://singsupplies.com/showthread.php?t=41249

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Oct 23, 2009
4 years for loan-shark runner
Girl receives a deterrent sentence; she splashed paint and set fires
By Elena Chong, Court Correspondent
      
Nur Azilah torched shoe racks and doors, splashed paint and scribbled graffiti outside flats.

A TEENAGE girl will now spend the next four years behind bars for her first criminal offences - helping loan sharks do their dirty work.

Nur Azilah Ithnin, who was chased out of her home and physically abused by her father, was on the payroll of two loan sharks whom she knew only as 'Storm' and 'Seven'.

They paid the 16-year-old up to $50 for each debtor she harassed and $150 more for every place she set on fire.

She committed a dozen such offences until she was caught on June 22.

The heavy sentence meted out to the young girl comes in the wake of an alarming surge in the number of young offenders arrested for loan-sharking offences.

Citing police figures, Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohamed Faizal said last month that there had been a sharp rise over the past two years of youth involvement in loan shark syndicates.

Read the full story in Friday's edition of The Straits Times

elena@sph.com.sg

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_445616.html

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example set.

even if you are 16yo n not of adult age, you can be jailed.

surprising. would have thought she would be considered a minor, as such, he name n picture shouldn't be shown in public.
perhaps it's what she did, setting fire and getting paid.

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Nov 23, 2009                                         
Mystery loansharkers                                         
Deals done via phone, bank transfer help kingpins remain anonymous
By  Teh Joo Lin & Mavis Toh                                                         


Borrowers who fail to pay can find their property vandalised (above) by a syndicate's runners. But runners are small fry in these organisations. They work for Ah Longs who operate 'stalls', with various levels of subordinates and money provided by faceless towkays. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND LIM

FACELESS financiers sit at the top of illegal money-lending syndicates. Save for one or two trusted lieutenants, no one in the syndicates knows their names. These towkays could also be running legitimate businesses. They could be operating from abroad. And they never dirty their hands by getting involved in the money-lending operations themselves. For those grubby activities, they have their Ah Longs, who each have their own 'stall' with various levels of subordinates - much like a big corporation. This way, when the runners - the ones who deface walls and speak to borrowers - are nabbed, they have little information to provide the authorities. Not that these small fry would rat on their leaders, even if they knew who they were, out of fear for their own safety. Arrangements would have been made in any case for 'fall guys' to take the rap. Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs Ho Peng Kee compared these syndicates to 'organised criminal groups' driven by profits. 'Kingpins rarely expose themselves; they shield themselves from apprehension by recruiting and surrounding themselves with layers of lieutenants,' he said. 'Members are also fearful to testify against the Ah Longs and towkays for fear of reprisals for them and their families.'

Read the full story in Monday's edition of The Straits Times.                             

joolin@sph.com.sg
                               mavistoh@sph.com.sg

via : http://singsupplies.com/showthread.php?t=43970

[77LostBoy77]

Looks more like a murder than loanshark's job... lol

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By Shaffiq Alkhatib, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 30 November 2009 0005 hrs

SINGAPORE : Police have arrested a 29-year-old man in Redhill Close for alleged loan shark harassment activities. Earlier this month, the authorities had received several reports of harassment cases in the area. That is because residents had found walls in the estate defaced with messages and splashed with paint. In a move to address the problem, officers from Clementi Police Division intensified their patrols and conducted numerous stake-outs in the vicinity. Their efforts paid off when they spotted the suspect behaving suspiciously outside a flat on Saturday afternoon. But he fled when they wanted to conduct a check on him. The officers collared the suspect after a short chase and he was found with items including a can of paint as well as several marker pens in his possession. The suspect will be charged with loan shark harassment in court on Monday.

If convicted, first-time offenders may be jailed up to three years or fined a maximum of S$40,000 or both.

They are also liable for caning if any damage was caused to property or harm caused to any person. - CNA/ms
via : http://singsupplies.com/showthread.php?t=44665

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[youtube]lMhBDFM5Me4[/youtube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMhBDFM5Me4&feature=player_embedded