Singaporean loan sharks make Malaysian victims foot bill for firebombing own homes

 

RM500 to splash red paint. RM700 to hurl Molotov cocktails.

That is the going rate, allegedly paid by loan sharks - believed to be Singaporean syndicates - to recruit Malaysians to terrorise borrowers who default on their debts.

The debtors, according to MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Michael Chong, are then forced to bear the cost.

“There are so-called ‘service charges’ added to the loan together with various ‘penalty fines’ which can inflate the total repayment and at times, amount to more than 10 times the original amount borrowed,” he was quoted as saying by The Star.

He added that Malaysians, desperate for money, are recruited through social media to carry out the attacks.

Chong said the syndicates are also employing new tactics, which include targeting the neighbours and extended family members of the defaulters.

Michael Chong

He highlighted the case involving a 42-year-old salesperson from Rawang, who lodged a police report after being harassed over a loan taken by his uncle, who is said to be a compulsive gambler.

“The loan sharks demanded that he repay a S$5,000 (about RM15,000) loan his uncle took, even though he had not been in contact with him for more than nine years,” he said.

Chong said that the assailants had thrown red paint on a neighbour’s house, damaging the main gate and a parked car.

He also noted that flyers featuring photographs of the salesperson’s mother and uncle were circulated throughout the neighbourhood.

“They also threatened to burn their house and attack other neighbouring homes if their demands were not met.

“We initially thought it was a case of mistaken identity but now we know this is a deliberate tactic to pressure and shame the family by going after their neighbours instead,” he added.

Disabled runner

Highlighting a separate case, Chong said a 69-year-old unemployed man from Jalan Kuchai Lama faced mounting pressure from loan sharks, who are demanding RM18,000 for a RM500 loan he took in July last year.

“This runner, known as Ah Xiang, is the same individual involved in many other cases of intimidation and harassment. He carries an OKU (disabled person) card with him to evade action from the authorities,” he said.

In a separate case, a 73-year-old businessperson borrowed RM530,000 from 45 loan sharks. While most lenders agreed to let her off the hook after mediation, seven remained defiant.

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“She had taken the loans to fund her business and had paid what was due but some of the loan sharks kept imposing additional charges.

“She has now gone into hiding, and I hope she remains out of their sight for now until we sort this out with the police.

"We have applied for an appointment with the Commercial Crime Investigation Department director Rusdi Isa, to call on the police to step up enforcement against these loan shark syndicates,” Chong said. - Mkini