Man threatened, family’s home splashed with red paint by Singapore loan sharks although no loan taken

JOHOR BARU: A man has been threatened for weeks and his parents' home has been splashed with red paint by loan sharks from Singapore after his brother looked into borrowing money from them.

The businessman known as Ng, 37, said that his brother who worked in a factory in Singapore merely asked the moneylenders about the loan in early September.

"He just asked about the loans but later changed his mind and decided not to take it. However, the loan sharks insisted that he take up the loan and credited S$1,000 (RM3,079) into his bank account despite his refusal," said Ng.

"My brother returned S$1,200, (RM3,695) including interest, to the loan sharks a few days later to avoid getting into their trap but they continued harassing him," he added at a press conference held by Johor PKR deputy chief Jimmy Puah here on Tuesday (Oct 26).

Ng said that the loan sharks later credited another S$2,000 (RM6,159) into his brother's bank account and told him to return the money with interest by the end of the month.

"My brother returned the money but they then demanded that he give them S$6,000 (RM18,478) and when he could not pay the money, they harassed him and our family here in Johor Baru," said Ng.

"They even sent my brother a photo of our parents house here and told him that he would burn it down if he did not pay the money," he added.

He said the loan sharks had put posts on his wife's business Facebook page, which affected their income, adding that they had splashed the home of his parents with red paint in the middle of the night.

"My parents are both in their 60s and are still traumatised by the incident. They have been having sleepless nights ever since," he said.

Ng said he was worried about his family's safety and hoped that the police could work to solve the case immediately, adding that he made two police reports on Oct 8 and Oct 13.

Meanwhile, Puah said that he had been receiving complaints from other victims who have reported a similar experience.

"Usually the 'Ah Long' in Singapore would use Malaysian contact numbers while those here would use Singapore contact numbers to avoid being detected," he said.

"I hope that the authorities could solve this problem as soon as possible and work with Singapore's cops to stop the syndicate," added Puah.

The police confirmed that they have received the report.