Man nabbed for alleged role in loanshark harassment via food delivery

A 60-year-old man has been arrested for his suspected involvement in a case of loanshark harassment where multiple paid food orders were delivered to a debtor's home.

The police said yesterday they were alerted on July 8 and the man was arrested on Aug 6 by Bedok Police Division officers.

Preliminary investigations revealed the man had allegedly assisted an unlicensed moneylender by providing his bank account to be used for transactions to order the food.

Investigations are ongoing.

This comes after the police had warned in April of a rising trend of unlicensed moneylenders making use of food delivery services to harass debtors.

The new tactic involves ordering large amounts of food or making multiple orders on the same day, and arranging for the food to be delivered to the debtor's home, often late at night.

In most cases, the food orders had not been paid for and would lead to disputes with delivery riders when the debtor refuses to pay for food he had not ordered.

This led to several food and beverage operators suffering losses.

The New Paper previously reported two such cases, in which a Thai food stall owner lost $160, and a noodle stall owner lost $70.

It is not clear why the food had been paid for in this case.

The police said yesterday that they take a zero tolerance approach towards loanshark harassment activities.

The public are advised to stay away from loan sharks and not to work with or assist them in any way. They can call 999 or the "X-Ah Long" hotline at 1800-924-5664 if they suspect or know of anyone who could be involved in illegal loansharking.

Those found guilty of assisting in the business of unlicensed moneylending can be fined between $30,000 and $300,000, jailed for up to four years and caned up to six times.

Repeat offenders can be fined between $30,000 and $300,000, jailed for up to seven years and given up to 12 strokes of the cane. Men above the age of 50 cannot be caned. - KOK YUFENG