Bangkok-based loan shark gets four years’ jail, S$480,000 fine
SINGAPORE — An illegal moneylender who operated from Bangkok was yesterday sentenced to four years’ jail, three strokes of the cane and fined S$480,000.
Wong Pui Wah, 42, had pleaded guilty last week to 16 charges of unlicensed moneylending that involved S$58,000 in loans to borrowers in Singapore. He had 34 other charges taken into consideration for sentencing.
Wong was arrested on Aug 30 last year at Block 310A Anchorvale Road as part of an operation. A laptop, thumb drive, mobile phones as well as cash were seized from his house, and he admitted that the items were used to conduct an unlicensed moneylending business from Bangkok in Thailand.
Another man arrested during the operation had revealed that he was the one who introduced Wong to work as a loan-shark runner. He later “graduated” to managing an unlicensed moneylending stall, and operated under two others in a hierarchy. Wong worked directly under someone called “Ah Hai”, who promised to pay him S$1,500 a month for the first three months, and S$3,000 per month subsequently with 30 per cent of the profits.
In 2010, Wong flew to Bangkok and was issued a laptop. For the first two weeks, he learnt the ropes: How to update debtors’ databases using Microsoft Excel and Access, and how to make calls to current and potential debtors. Court documents did not specify why the syndicate operated from Bangkok.
Wong had several runners in Singapore, and he would instruct them to check borrowers’ particulars, and collect and deposit repayments. He had the power to issue loans of up to S$20,000, but had to seek Ah Hai’s permission for amounts above S$8,000. From 2011 to the date of his arrest, Wong made a profit of S$65,000 to S$70,000.
The 16 charges he pleaded guilty to involved debtors as old as 76, who between 2012 and last year borrowed amounts of S$500 to S$20,000 at a 20- per-cent interest rate. For each unlicensed moneylending charge, Wong could have been jailed up to four years, fined between S$30,000 and S$300,000 and caned up to six times. NEO CHAI CHIN
