KUALA LUMPUR: A businessman is worried about his family's safety after loan sharks threatened to kidnap his children.
The man, who only wished to be identified as Choong, 42, from Cheras, claimed that his younger brother had taken about 13 loans from illegal moneylenders amounting to RM83,000.
"He took the loan in May but this month, they began harassing both of us to start paying off the debt. They even threatened to kidnap my two children, aged nine and 12, as well as his two-year-old daughter," he told the MCA Public Services and Complaints Department.
He said the moneylenders also edited pictures of his younger brother and wife and placed it on a hearse as a threat to them.
"This is the first time that he has borrowed money from a loan shark and now we are all worried for our safety.
"My brother also reported the case to the police in Hulu Selangor on June 6," he said, urging for help on the matter.
Meanwhile, an accountant who only wanted to be known as Huang, from Petaling Jaya claimed that her estranged husband had left her and the family after facing harassment from moneylenders.
"My husband is 45 years old and works as an air conditioning service technician.
"He moved out of the house in January this year as we are in the midst of a divorce," she said, adding that she had no idea why her husband needed to seek out a moneylender to take loans in the first place.
She claimed that they managed to settle her husband's loans two years ago but her cousin and father-in-law had been receiving threatening calls from the moneylender since last month.
"My cousin was told that he is the guarantor for the borrower but he never stood as the guarantor before. I also have received calls from the moneylender, demanding that I pay another RM4,300 in order to settle the matter," she said.
When contacted, department head Datuk Seri Michael Chong said these illegal moneylenders were a menace to society.
"They should seek out the borrower instead of harassing and threatening their family members who have nothing to do with the issue," he said.
