Police have arrested three men aged between 18 to 23 years old for suspected involvement in loansharking activities.

On 15 June 2010 at about 9.15 am, while conducting patrols in the vicinity of Tampines Bus Interchange, officers from Public Transport Security Command (TransCom) spotted the three men behaving suspiciously and decided to check on them. Upon checking, one of the men was found with loanshark-related paraphernalia (ie two packets of black coloured paint and one black coloured marker) in his possession.

Preliminary investigations indicated that the suspects had earlier carried out loanshark harassments by scrawling loanshark-related graffiti on the walls and splashing paint on debtors' units in Tampines, Bukit Panjang, Yishun and Woodlands. The suspects were subsequently placed under arrest for their involvement in loansharking activities and the loanshark-related paraphernalia were seized as case exhibits.

All three suspects will be charged in Court on 17 June 2010 for offences under the Moneylender's Act.

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.

Commander of TransCom, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Andy Tan, commended his officers for their vigilance. He reiterated that the Police will not hesitate to deal with such offenders severely.