SINGAPORE: Authorities are investigating 149 people aged between 15 and 70 who are suspected of being involved in unlicensed moneylending activities.
Officers from the Criminal Investigation Department and seven police land divisions conducted simultaneous islandwide raids between Mar 21 and 28, police said in a news release on Tuesday (Mar 29).
Preliminary investigations showed that one of the suspects had allegedly carried on a business of unlicensed moneylending.
Another 15 suspects had allegedly harassed the homes of debtors and 21 are believed to be runners who assisted in unlicensed moneylending businesses by carrying out automated teller machine (ATM) transfers.
The remaining 112 suspects are believed to have “opened bank accounts and provided their ATM cards, personal identification numbers and/or their Internet banking tokens to unlicensed moneylenders to facilitate their unlicensed moneylending”, they added.
Investigations against all suspects are ongoing.
A person whose bank account, ATM card, or Internet banking token is used to facilitate moneylending by an unlicensed moneylender is presumed to have assisted in carrying on the business of unlicensed moneylending.
Those convicted of doing so can be jailed for up to four years, fined between S$30,000 and S$300,000 and caned with up to six strokes.
Suspects convicted of acting on behalf of an unlicensed moneylender, committing or attempting to commit any acts of harassment can face up to five years in jail, fined between S$5,000 and S$50,000 and given three to six strokes of the cane.
Police also warned the public that unlicensed moneylenders are increasingly using text messages or online platforms to send unsolicited loan advertisements.
“Members of the public are reminded not to reply or respond to such advertisements and to report these messages as spam,” the police said.
They also urged the public to contact the police if they suspect or know of anyone who could be involved in unlicensed moneylending activities.