ILLEGAL LOANSHARKS

ILLEGAL LOANSHARKS

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(Situation update): **

27.

Mr Lim Biow Chuan asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs (a) if he will provide an updated assessment of the illegal loansharks situation in Singapore; and (b) whether the Police is able to adequately handle the complaints against illegal loansharks harassment.

Mr Wong Kan Seng: Since 2005, the Singapore Police Force has employed a multi-pronged strategy in dealing with the loansharking situation. Penalties under the Moneylenders Act have been enhanced. Assets of convicted loansharks can now be confiscated under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act. Passports of loansharks can be cancelled and a 10-year travel ban imposed to prevent them from running syndicates outside of Singapore. Loansharks can also be detained under the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act. Police has enlisted the help of external parties such as SingPost to assist with the detection of loanshark activities. Since April this year, persons who apply to update their home address in their NRICs are required to furnish proof that they are staying at that address to minimise the likelihood of borrowers giving false addresses to loansharks. With all these measures in place, the situation has shown some improvement.

In the first half of 2008, 4,755 loansharking and related harassment cases were reported, a drop of 9.3% from the 5,240 cases over the same period last year. The number of harassment cases is likely to decline for a second year running since the number of reported cases peaked in 2006.

There have also been more arrests for loansharking activities. In the first half of 2008, Police arrested 210 persons, compared to 137 persons arrested in the same period last year. In May this year, Police dismantled a large syndicate, arrested 17 people and seized more than $200,000, the largest seizure of cash since 2005.

Tapping community resources is another prong in our strategy. In this regard, publicity campaigns have been launched to advise the public against irresponsible borrowing. Public assistance in loansharking cases remains strong. On their part, some local communities have embarked on CSSP projects to complement Police efforts.

Police takes pro-active steps to ensure that its resources are optimally deployed to deal with loansharks and the crime situation generally. That is why in 2005, CID set up a dedicated Anti-Unlicensed Moneylending Task Force that has worked closely with the six Land Divisions to tackle the problem on the ground, a key objective being to dismantle loanshark syndicates. At the last sitting, I informed the House that CID had recently reorganised its branches, including the AUML Task Force, which previously dealt with specific crime domains, to deal more holistically with all forms of syndicated criminal groups. This allows CID to better respond to the evolving crime scene.

Whilst we have made some progress, the problem of illegal money lending is not easy to solve. Loansharks evolve their modus operandi to elude detection and apprehension. Organised syndicates are difficult to break down, as the kingpins rarely expose themselves. Targeting runners and those who harass others disrupts but does not destroy the organisation, since this group of people is easily replaced. Breaking down the entire organisation is a painstaking and laborious process. Whatever the economic situation, there will always be desperate borrowers who borrow from unlicensed money lenders.

Police will continue to monitor the situation closely, and if necessary, introduce further measures to deal with the problem.