Cops arrest licensed moneylender who allegedly roughs up his customers

SHAH ALAM: A licensed moneylender operating outside his allowed area was arrested after allegedly roughing up errant borrowers.

Police arrested the moneylender and two other men in Serdang on Monday (July 29).

While the moneylender has a licence to operate in Klang, he was believed to have loaned money outside of his specified area.

Selangor Commercial Crimes Investigation Department (CCID) chief Asst Comm Fazlisyam Abd Majid said that it was against the terms of a moneylender's licence to operate outside the set area.

“It’s goes against the terms, so we view it as having no licence (to operate). We believe he has also been operating in other areas besides Serdang.

“Based on reports lodged, we have identified two cases.

“But I don’t say that the number might not increase as we continue our investigations, ” he told a press conference at the contingent police headquarters here on Wednesday (July 31).

ACP Fazlisyam added that a victim was allegedly punched and forced to pay an interest of RM100 every day, after borrowing RM5, 000.

“So you add up the days in a month, that’s already RM3, 000 per month, ” he said.

The suspect, who has been operating as a moneylender for around 10 years, is also believed to have locked the homes of errant payers.

He is also believed to have a police record.

In an unrelated case, the police arrested three locals and a Taiwanese man for allegedly being a part of a scam syndicate.

The local suspects were known to have been responsible for finding mule bank accounts for the Taiwanese suspect for the syndicate to use.

ACP Fazlisyam said the Taiwanese suspect comes to Malaysia regularly – about once a month.

“This year he has already made seven trips. He was arrested on July 17, after we interrogated the three local suspects when we caught them the day before, ” he said.

The mule accounts are believed to have been obtained by paying holders around RM200 per account.

Also highlighted during the press conference was the successful arrest of three online scammers on July 25.

The main scammer, aged 26, was believed to have created fake advertisements online to sell a non-existing Toyota Vios.

“The deposit of the car was listed as RM9, 000. But the car was never delivered to the victims, ” he said.

So far seven police cases have been linked to the suspect.- Star