According to the Police media release, 203 people between the ages of 16 and 71 are under investigation for their suspected involvement in unlicensed moneylending.
Anti-vice operation
The Police stated that the 2 week-long operations between 18 and 29 October consist of 7 Police land divisions which conducted island wide. raids in Singapore.
Among the 203 people, 48 of them are suspected to be runners who facilitate illegal money lending via Automated Teller Machine (ATM) transfers.
11 of them are suspected of harassment at debtors’ homes.
Opening bank accounts for loansharks/unlicensed money lender
144 suspects are under investigation for opening bank accounts and providing access to ATMs and/or ibanking for usage by loansharks/unlicensed money lenders.
According to past reports of loan sharks, opening bank accounts to facilitate illegal money lending is commonly used as a method to force debtors who can’t return the money by “selling” bank accounts to loansharks to “offset” their debts.
However, in the eyes of the law doing so could get them into a lot more trouble.
Penalties:
Providing bank accounts to facilitate illegal moneylending is equal to assisting in the operation of running an unlicensed money lending business.
- First-time offenders found guilty of carrying on or assisting in a business of unlicensed moneylending shall be punished with imprisonment term of up to four years, a fine of between $30,000 and $300,000, and caning of up to six strokes; and
- First-time offenders found guilty of committing or attempting to commit any acts of harassment on behalf of an unlicensed moneylender 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.