Police bust largest loan shark syndicate, masterminded by husband and wife

KUANTAN: The police have busted an illegal money-lending syndicate (loan sharks), the country's largest to date, with the arrest of a husband and wife and nine men in five separate raids around Kuantan on Monday.
Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department deputy director Datuk Hamza Taib said the suspects were arrested in raids which began at 12pm in two houses near Galing, two restaurants at Indera Mahkota, and a petrol station in Semambu.
Hamza said initial investigations revealed that the syndicate had been active since 2009, and it gave out loans to borrowers from Pahang, and even Terengganu.
"The police have also identified a total of 320 active borrowers of the syndicate, involving loans amounting to over RM5 million with profits in excess of RM1 million.
"The police believe they have busted the largest loan shark syndicate to date with the arrest of these suspects. Investigation also revealed the couple was behind the syndicate," he told a press conference at the Kuantan district police headquarters here, yesterday.
He said the police also seized a number of items including automated teller machine (ATM) cards owned by the various individuals, a safe containing cash amounting to RM40,000, documents with borrowers' details, several mobile phones, laptops, and five cars believed to be used by the suspects.
However, he said the total value of the items seized were still under investigation, and the police were in the midst of completing the investigation papers.
Hamzah added that one of the suspects was also found to have a criminal record related to drug abuse.
All the suspects, aged between 18 and 41, were currently remanded until Oct 12 to assist with investigations under Section 5(2) of the Moneylenders Act.
In a separate case, Hamzah said the police had apprehended three men from Kazakhstan, aged between 23 and 24, suspected to be involved with the hacking of ATM machines in the national capital recently, through the 'Ops Albatross' operation. — Bernama