Technician’s downward spiral into ‘ah long’ nightmare

JOHOR BARU: A technician needed S$10,000 (RM34,361) to help pay a relative’s medical bill, so when he came across a Facebook ad for a loan consultant, he figured it couldn’t do any harm to get some advice.

Little did he know that he would end up being extorted, threatened and intimidated – and not only did he not get the loan, he ended up forking out S$7,300 (RM25,070) to an ‘ah long’ (illegal moneylender).

Identified only as Raymond, the 34-year-old victim, who is based in Singapore, said he thought it would be safer to look for a loan in Singapore.

He said it all started when he looked for a moneylender on Facebook on July 5 and clicked on a post about a “loan consultant” in Singapore.

He was asked for his particulars and an agent contacted him via WhatsApp shortly after.

“He introduced himself as Martin and said he was an unlicensed moneylender. I decided not to go ahead with the loan.

“The man threatened to misuse my personal information if I did not go ahead with the loan. He suggested that I borrow a small amount of S$450 (RM1,546) and transferred the money to me that night.

“He told me to repay S$800 (RM2,748) including interest the next day, and the matter would be settled. I felt like I had no choice but to do as he said,” Raymond told a press conference organised by Stulang assemblyman Andrew Chen here yesterday.

Raymond said he thought the worst was over after making the transfer but to his dismay, Martin contacted him to say that he had transferred the wrong amount.

“Claiming that my error had caused issues with his bank, Martin told me to make further transfers totalling S$800 to two different bank accounts. Again, I complied as he had threatened to set my house on fire,” he said.

Raymond added that things took a turn for the worse when Martin demanded S$5,700 (RM19,566) the next day.

“I had to borrow S$4,000 (RM13,735) from my friends to pay him.

“I felt something amiss when Martin asked me to let him use my Singapore bank account or pay him S$15,000 (RM51,503) for him to stop contacting me.”

He said he did not pay the amount and Singapore police advised him to ignore the demand when he lodged a police report in Toa Payoh on July 13.

Raymond said Martin continued to harass him using different telephone numbers and splashed red paint on his friend’s house in Sri Stulang here last Friday, adding that the address was on his MyKad as he had previously lived there.