According to the Police media release, 181 are under investigation for unlicensed moneylending. The youngest among the group is only 14 years old.
The police conducted two-week anti-unlicensed moneylending between 10 and 21 January 2022. The raids took place simultaneously island-wide. The operation included officers from the Criminal Investigation Department and the seven Police land divisions
The Police said that the preliminary investigations revealed that:
- 15 suspects had allegedly conducted harassment at debtors’ residences.
- Another 28 suspects are believed to be runners who had assisted in unlicensed moneylending businesses by carrying out Automated Teller Machine (ATM) transfers.
- One suspect is also believed to have provided false contact information to an unlicensed moneylender, leading to harassment caused at an innocent victim’s residence.
137 suspects are believed to have opened bank accounts and provided their ATM cards or I banking access for unlicensed money lenders utilisation.
Investigations against all the suspects are ongoing.
Penalties
- First-time offenders found guilty of carrying on or assisting in a business of unlicensed moneylending shall be punished with an imprisonment of up to four years, a fine between $30,000 and $300,000, and caning of up to six strokes.
- First-time offenders found guilty of committing or attempting any acts of harassment on behalf of an unlicensed moneylender shall be punished with an imprisonment term of up to five years, a fine of between $5,000 and $50,000, and caning between three and six strokes.
- Any person who is found guilty of providing false contact information to obtain loans from unlicensed moneylenders shall be punished with imprisonment term of up to 12 months.
How to inform Police
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 unlicensed moneylending activities.