Police cripple loan shark syndicate with arrests of three employees

PETALING JAYA: The police have crippled a five-year-old loan shark syndicate following the arrests of three men in Banting.

Petaling Jaya OCPD Asst Comm Nik Ezanee Mohd Faisal said the three were aged from 21 to 27 and were arrested at premises in Jalan Cemerlang 2 at 2pm on Tuesday (June 9).

"They are believed to be employees of the syndicate which has networks around Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. The operation is said to intimidate those who cannot keep up with their loan payments by sending them threatening messages via text messages and social media," he said.

ACP Nik Faisal said the syndicate would also humiliate the debtor by distributing flyers with their pictures and calling them "cheats" and "habitual debtors".

He said the police took action after receiving a report on June 4 from a 35-year-old loan shark victim living in Petaling Jaya.

"We will investigate further to see how these three men are involved in the operations," he said.

The suspects have been remanded for four days and the case is being investigated for operating a money lending business without a licence under Section 5 of the Money Lenders Act 1951.