Police have arrested four men aged between 29 and 36 years old for their suspected involvement in three separate cases of loansharking harassment.

In the first case, on 24 May 2010 at about 1.50 pm , officers from Ang Mo Kio Police Division were conducting anti-crime rounds in the vicinity of Serangoon North Ave 1 when they spotted a man behaving suspiciously. Officers then conducted a check on the 31-year-old man and he was in possession of loanshark-related paraphernalia such as a can of red paint, markers and slips of paper with entries believed to be related to debtors' records. He was immediately placed under arrest and the items were seized as case exhibits. Preliminary investigation indicated that the suspect is believed to be a debtor-turned-runner and had committed loanshark harassment by scrawling loanshark-related graffiti on the walls and splashing paint at debtors' units in the Serangoon area.

Later, at about 4.20 pm , officers from Ang Mo Kio Police Division spotted two men behaving suspiciously at the vicinity of Serangoon Ave 3. Officers kept observation and subsequently detained the duo aged 29 and 32 years old. One of the men was found in possession of a marker and a slip of paper with debtors' records. A further search on their motorcycle led to the discovery of several bags of paint, handphones and slips of papers believed to contain debtors' records. Both were placed under arrest and the loanshark-related paraphernalia was seized as case exhibits. Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects had assisted the loansharks in carrying out various acts of harassment at debtors’ units by splashing paint at debtors' units and scrawling loanshark-related graffiti on walls in the Serangoon and Beo Crescent estates.

In another separate case, on the same day at about 4.00 pm , a 36-year-old man was placed under arrest at Ang Mo Kio Police Division for assisting a loanshark in his business. The subject is believed to be a debtor-turned-runner and had opened a bank account and given away his Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card with its Personal Identification Number (PIN) to the loanshark. Investigations against this subject are in progress.

Two of the suspects aged 31 and 32 years old will be charged in Court on 26 May 2010 for loanshark harassment while investigations against the other two suspects are still on-going.

Offenders who had acted on behalf of an unlicensed moneylender, commit or attempt to commit any acts of harassment shall be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years, fine not less than $5,000/- and not more than $50,000/- and shall also be liable to be caned not more than 6 strokes. First-time offenders found guilty of assisting in the carrying on of the business of an unlicensed moneylender, may be fined not less than $30,000/- and not more than $300,000/-, be imprisoned for a term not exceeding 4 years and shall also be liable to be punished with caning with not more than 6 strokes.

Commander of Ang Mo Kio Police Division, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Hsu Sin Yun commended his officers for their vigilance leading to these successful arrests. He further stressed that the Police will not hesitate to deal with such offenders severely.