Anne (right) with Heng (middle) and Pekan Nanas Chinese Community chief Hong Kim Kek (left) showing photos of the police report and incident.
PONTIAN: A family here is living in fear after a car parked outside their house was set on fire in the wee hours of Saturday (Dec 10) morning.
A 32-year-old accountant who wanted to be known only as Anne said she and her family have been harassed by loan sharks since the beginning of this month after her brother attempted to get a loan in Singapore.
She said that everyone was asleep when she heard a noise outside the house.
"I later found my sister's car, which was parked outside the house, on fire. There was also a note left in front of the house, urging us to pay back the money we borrowed,” said Anne.
"We have never taken any loans. My brother attempted to but later found out it was a scam and filed a police report in Singapore," she told a press conference at the Tanjung Piai Parliament service centre here on Wednesday (Dec 14).
Anne said the incident left the family fearing for their lives, especially as the threatening messages continued.
"What is even more worrying is that they have all of our MyKad numbers, full names and even photos of everyone at home," she said, adding that their neighbours are also worried about their own safety.
She added that the family's plight started on Dec 1 when her brother came across an advertisement for a company offering licensed personal loans on Facebook.
"Initially, my brother wanted to take up a S$10,000 (RM32,700) loan. However, after some back and forth with the agent and making several transactions totalling S$6,600 (RM21,600), we realised that we had been scammed,” said Anne.
"The agent made all kinds of excuses to get more money out of my brother, including saying that they did not receive the money he sent."
She said the realisation came after she called up the company and was told that the man was not its agent.
Anne added that the matter did not end there as her brother got a message from another number claiming that he had applied for another loan.
"He declined the offer but the man was adamant. He banked S$450 (RM1,472) into my brother's bank account and asked to pay back S$800 (RM2,618),” she said.
Anne added that to avoid problems, the money was paid and the number was then blocked.
“We thought that was the end of it but the harassment continued and we kept on getting threatening messages," she said, adding a police report about the fire was filed at the Pekan Nanas police station on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Johor MCA Public Complaints Bureau staffer Heng Zhi Li, who arranged the press conference, hoped that the police could investigate the matter as soon as possible.
"What is really worrying about this case is that they have all the MyKad details of each of the family members in the house.
"It is a very well organised syndicate and we hope that police from both Singapore and Malaysia could work together to get to the bottom of this," he said.
When contacted, Pontian OCPD Supt Mohammad Shofee Tayib confirmed that a report was filed at the Pekan Nanas police station on Saturday.
