Police, with assistance from a member of the public, arrested a 22-year-old man for suspected involvement in loanshark harassment yesterday.

On 3 February 2010 at about 9.45 pm, Police were alerted by a member of the public, who had detained a man seen loitering suspiciously in a corridor of a block of flats in the Yishun housing estate. Officers from Ang Mo Kio Police Division responded immediately. Upon the officers' arrival at the scene, they conducted a search of the suspect. A red marker pen, a mobile phone and an ATM transaction receipt were found in his possession and seized as case exhibits. Two sets of loanshark graffiti were found in the fifth-floor staircase landing of the block.

The suspect is believed to be a debtor-turned-runner who has committed other cases of loanshark harassment in the area.

The subject will be charged in Court on 5 February 2010 under the Moneylenders' Act of 2008.

First time offenders found guilty of loanshark harassment may be fined not less than $4,000/- and not more than $40,000/- or jailed for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both. They are also liable for caning if any damage was caused to any property, or hurt was caused to any person.