Death threats and harassment: Hong Kong couple’s ordeal with loan sharks

When his health supplement business struggled with cash-flow problems, Bobby Tan* turned to a so-called professional networking group in Hong Kong for help, borrowing HK$300,000 (US$38,220) from a licensed small lender in April last year.

Over the next 10 months, the Hong Kong permanent resident from Southeast Asia continued to take on more debt, borrowing from 30 different licensed moneylenders for a total of HK$5.05 million.