JOHOR BARU: Police have arrested seven individuals, including a woman, for being part of a loan shark syndicate that is believed to be based in a neighbouring country.
Johor police chief Comm M. Kumar said that the group is in charge of making threats by throwing molotov cocktails or red paint at victims who have fallen for their scams.
The arrest was made by the Anti-Vice Gambling and Secret Societies Division (D7) involving six officers and 15 policemen from March 28 until April 7 around Johor Baru, he added.
“The suspects, aged between 29 and 46, have been active since January this year. The group is believed to have been hired to threaten loan shark victims to pay up their debts.
“The initial investigation revealed that each individual is being paid RM600 for throwing red paint once and RM1,000 for throwing molotov cocktails once.
“The syndicate’s modus operandi involves placing moneylending advertisements through Facebook with a caption saying ‘Singapore Legal Money Lender’ with their main target being Malaysians who have previously worked in the neighbouring country,” he added.
He said this during a press conference at the Johor police headquarters here on Monday (April 8).
Comm Kumar added that victims would need to provide their personal information and the information of their family members for loan applications.
“Once they have the information, they will start making threats even when the money has not been given to the victim under the excuse of ‘processing fees’.
“The syndicate will charge loan interest between 20% and 50%,” he said, adding that all transactions are made to a bank account that is based in a foreign country.
The enforcement team also confiscated seven mobile phones, cash worth RM2,300, a laptop, writing utensils, two Touch ‘n Go cards, three packets of red paint, and two vehicles.
The arrests consist of six men and a woman, all of whom tested positive for methamphetamine and have priors involving crimes.
“With the group’s arrest, we believe that we have solved 29 cases of similar threats using the same modus operandi.
We are currently on the lookout for any other syndicate members who are still at large,” he said, adding that the mastermind is believed to be based in the neighbouring country.
The case is investigated under Section 427, Section 435, and Section 436 of the Penal Code for committing mischief, mischief by fire, and mischief by explosive substance with intent to destroy property.
The case is also being investigated under Section 507 of the Penal Code for criminal intimidation by anonymous communication and Section 15(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act of 1952 for consuming drugs.
