JOHOR BAHRU: Johor police have arrested six men and a woman who were hired by a loan shark (Ah Long) syndicate to threaten loan defaulters.
Johor police chief M. Kumar said the suspects, aged between 29 and 46, were picked up in several locations in this district during raids conducted between March 28 and yesterday.
“Preliminary investigations show that this gang has been active since January this year. They were paid RM600 per job for splashing paint (on a victim’s property) and RM1,000 for causing mischief by fire using Molotov cocktail.
“In the raids, police seized seven handphones, RM2,300 cash, a laptop, two ‘TouchnGo’ cards, a smart tag and three packets of red paint.
“Also confiscated were a Perodua Myvi, a Proton Saga and some stationery,“ he told a press conference at the Johor contingent police headquarters here today.
He said the syndicate advertised its services on Facebook with the caption ‘Singapore legal money lenders’ to deceive borrowers.
He said the syndicate would deposit money into borrowers’ accounts once they submitted particulars like work permit details and residential address although the loan agreement had yet to be finalised.
“Borrowers are forced to make payments at high interest rates of between 20 and 50 per cent.
“If borrowers default on the payments, syndicate members will threaten the victims and their family members with acts of splashing paint on their properties or causing mischief by fire,” he said.
He said preliminary investigations showed that the syndicate targeted Malaysians working in Singapore and all money transactions were conducted through bank accounts registered overseas.
He said police could solve 29 cases with the arrest of the suspects, all of whom tested positive for methamphetamine.
