SINGAPORE — Mr Alan had no idea that his employee had borrowed from “loan sharks” until he was harassed with almost 120 calls over three days from various unlicensed money lenders.
SINGAPORE — Mr Alan had no idea that his employee had borrowed from “ loan shark s” until he was harassed with almost 120 calls over three daysWhile harassment from unlicensed moneylenders, or loan shark s, is nothing new, some illegal lenders have adopted new technologically savvy means.
Experts and Members of Parliament see socioeconomic issues as the root of the problem and suggest ways to tackle it Mr Alan’s brush with “Ah Longs”, a colloquial term derived from the Cantonese phrase for illegal moneylenders, despite him not having borrowed a cent from them is not unique. “When I walked towards them, they asked me, ‘Is it for this address? This is a scam, a fake order. It’s a loanshark case’,” said Mr Pereira, who reported the incident to the delivery platform and was told to discard the food.
From January to May 2024, 8.6 per cent of unlicensed money lending arrests involved youths between the ages of 14 and 19, a spike from 3.1 per cent for the corresponding period in 2023.old who was arrested on June 5, for suspected involvement in setting a fire outside a flat at Yishun Avenue 6. With the “Ah Long” menace being a never-ending story, TODAY takes a closer look at how unlicensed moneylender harassment tactics have evolved in this digital age, and why this illicit industry persists.Before the dawn of the digital age, spraying paint and locking gates were among the unlicensed moneylenders’ favourite tools of the trade.
However, unlicensed money lenders had to reduce such “open harassment” tactics when the authorities installed closed-circuit television cameras in all lifts and at lift landings, said Ms Priya. The intimidation, which continued for over a month in 2010, included continuous calls looking for his father who had borrowed the money, and vulgarities and threats over the phone.
She noted that the persons involved in harassing borrowers may not be the actual moneylenders, but other individuals they engage known as runners. She recalled her recent case where an unlicensed moneylender had contacted the borrower’s estranged wife and mother-in-law on Instagram, and sent them threatening messages in an attempt to demand payment.
A combination of factors finally put a stop to the harassment, including making a police report, unplugging his land line and urging Lalamove to ban the account that was sending orders to his house.Despite the plethora of strictly regulated licensed money lending alternatives and the exorbitant interest rates charged by loan sharks, many still resort to borrowing money from illegal moneylenders due to financial and socioeconomic reasons, financial experts told TODAY.
“When one could not meet the credit assessment of legal lenders, one has no choice but to borrow from loan sharks as a last resort, especially after exhausting friends and families,” said Assoc Prof Tham. Associate Professor Razwana Begum, head of the public safety and security programme at the Singapore University of Social Sciences, said that gig workers, who may be living “day by day” on an unstable income with no savings may also be at “higher risk” of seeking financial assistance from unlicensed moneylenders.
“On the public education front, police launched the fourth anti-unlicensed money lending campaign in January 2020, with the aim of increasing public awareness, first to not to borrow from unlicensed moneylenders or work for them. Since then, various amendments to the Act have been made, including tightening the laws to tackle loan sharks more effectively.
Licensed moneylenders can only advertise through business or consumer directories, their own websites, and advertisements at their premisespassed the Debt Collectors Bill Mr Sean Lee, business manager of Assured Debt Recovery, said that debt recovery is more difficult with the tighter regulations, especially when encountering “aggressive” or uncooperative debtors.
Mr Leroy Frank Ratnam, chief executive and commercial adviser at debt collection firm JMS Rogers Global, said the firm follows a “strict protocol” for engagements with debtors. Telegram has been a “game changer” in the past five years, as a transnational messaging platform popular among youths where users can be“Around 10 to 15 years ago, used to be on websites. There were popular forums where these were posted, but now it’s gone even deeper, because it’s on Telegram. If you go to Telegram and type ‘Sell ATM card’, you might get something,” said Mr Kalidass from Kalidass Law Corporation.
The youths’ parents were not aware of their involvement with loan sharks until it was uncovered by the authorities, as the youngsters’ handphone usage was unsupervised. “My last client was young, at the Institute of Technical Education and he was accused of harassing debtors. He did get probation, but this exemplifies the trend right now.”Telegram has been a “game changer” in the past five years, as a transnational messaging platform popular among youths where users can be easily recruited for criminal activities, said lawyer Kalidass Murugaiyan, who has worked with young offenders between the age of 16 and 22.
The youths in that case confessed to having committed the acts for “quick cash” and having learned about the job through a Telegram group called “SG Fast Cash”. Lawyer Sanjiv Vaswani said that his firm Vaswani Law Chambers has also seen a “marked increase” in the number of enquiries from young persons charged with being
highlighted a February 2024 case where a woman was charged in court for using her TikTok account to promote and advertise an illegal moneylending business. “It makes it challenging, or even impossible for us to uncover their identities. Witnesses fear reprisal to themselves and family members should the syndicate members come to know that they provided information to the authorities,” he added, stating that some witnesses can turn “hostile” and refuse to cooperate with police investigations.
“We had to work with foreign law enforcement agencies to locate him and process his coordination back to Singapore,” said DSP Li. The authorities also engage with young offenders' parents during the course of investigations, and refer them to other resources such as counsellors through the Ministry of Social and Family Development, said ASP Ho of Bedok Police Division.
Mr Josephus Tan, managing director of Invictus Law and a criminal defence lawyer who has represented clients as young as 14 in such cases, noted that many of his cases were done pro bono for the “down and out”, who became involved with loan sharks because of their financial or family circumstances. One way to help people who are more likely to borrow from unlicensed sources is to introduce “targeted, contextualised” saving plans and financial literacy programmes for them, said Assoc Prof Razwana.
“Beyond that, we should also establish stronger support systems for those in financial distress, offering a range of services from counselling, to emergency financial assistance and even debt restructuring programmes,” said Mr Chua. This motivated him to create the bi-annual youth engagement programme, Delta League, in 2011, to engage youths through football and keep them “meaningfully occupied” during the school holidays.
“They might fear getting in trouble themselves if they report the activity. As a result, even if they do come forward, they might be hesitant to provide the full details of the situation, hindering prosecution efforts,” said Ms James. “We need to address the root of the problem — which is why do people have to borrow from such sources in the first place? Are people doing so to feed an addiction?
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