Loan shark hits wrong house

What a mess: Chiang is living in fear after finding red paint splashed on her gate post.

IPOH: A human resources executive is having sleepless nights after her house was splashed with red paint and she received a threat to burn it down.

Chiang Ghee Siew said she was constantly awoken by noise of barking dogs from outside her home in Taman Kledang Sentosa here as she feared that her house might be torched.

The 54-year-old believes that it is a case of mistaken identity by a loan shark.

“I found a note pasted on my gate calling on a neighbour to pay his debt.

“Neither my family members nor I have borrowed from a loan shark or anyone else, ” she told a press conference held by Perak DAP public complaints bureau chief Steven Chaw yesterday.

“It’s nerve-wracking to receive a note that threatens to burn down my house.

“Either the loan shark is mistaken or they are targeting us to pressure the debtor to pay up, ” she told reporters.

Chiang is not familiar with her neighbour but believes that he and his family have already moved away.

“I saw them pack their belongings into a car and left about 10 days ago.

“They’ve also left their two dogs outside the house, ” she said.

Chiang said she lodged a police report on Sunday.

“I hope the loan shark will stop harassing my family and me, ” she said.

Chaw, who is also Menglembu assemblyman, said he had received five cases of loan sharks this year but it was the first to involve the splashing of red paint.

“I hope the debtor will settle his issues with the loan shark so that his neighbours will not be harassed, ” he said.

He urged anyone with information about the debtor to forward it to the police.