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SINGAPORE: A Singaporean man who was a member of a transnational unlicensed moneylending syndicate was sentenced to four years and three months’ jail on Friday (June 21).
Ng Kwong Seng, 44, who had earned around S$500,000 in profit from 2006 to 2019, was also ordered to pay a fine of S$495,000.
He will have to spend an additional 33 weeks’ behind bars if he fails to pay the fine.
On June 12, Ng had pleaded guilty to seven counts of being part of an unlicensed moneylending business.
The group primarily operated in China but extended loans to debtors in Singapore.
In earlier proceedings, Deputy Public Prosecutor Emily Koh told the court that investigations revealed that Ng did not harass debtors.
“This was done by ‘Xiao Fu’, who would arrange for the runners or debtors in Singapore to conduct harassments of other debtors, which included sending letters, splashing paint on the units, writing on the wall and locking of gates.”
Ng, who was based in China, was involved with the syndicate for 13 years and had issued loans with interest rates of 20 per cent.
He was entitled to up to 20 per cent share of the profit from July 2008 to end-2014, and up to 60 per cent share from end-2014 to 2019.
It all started in mid-2006 when Ng received a call from a former colleague who recommended him a job as an office support staff member in China, with a monthly salary of $2,000.
Ng accepted the offer and began working for the unlicensed moneylending syndicate, in which someone named Ah Ren was the financier.
Ah Ren was also the “tua towkay”, or “big boss” in Hokkien, while another person, known only as Lak Ya, was a “towkay”, or “boss”, in the group.
DPP Koh had said: “A towkay was responsible for managing the operations of various ‘ah longs’ or unlicensed moneylenders.
"At the same time, there were several other towkays working for Ah Ren.
“(Ng) thus started working for the syndicate in an apartment in Shenzhen, China, since mid-2006 by helping an ‘ah long’ known as Freddi to solicit for debtors from Singapore.”
Ng was given a database of contact numbers, and he would call them to solicit for potential debtors.
In July 2008, he was promoted to be an ah long after Freddi left the syndicate for unknown reasons.
Over the years, Ng rose up the ranks and, in late 2014, was promoted to be a towkay after Lak Ya left the syndicate.
As a towkay, Ng earned between $10,000 and $12,000 in profit every month.
He stopped the moneylending business in 2019 after Ah Ren was arrested.
Court documents did not disclose if the latter was caught in Singapore or overseas.
After that, Ng remained in China and worked as a sales manager for a liquor company until June 2023.
He returned to Singapore and was arrested at Changi Airport on Nov 1, 2023. - The Straits Times/ANN
