Reel in the loan sharks

The authorities must conduct a thorough probe to identify the number of Ah Long syndicates in the country and track down the powerful kingpins behind them.

ALONG THE WATCHTOWER
By M. VEERA PANDIYAN, THE STAR

THESE ruthless creatures have been around for a long time. Yes, the blood-sucking business of loan sharks can be traced back to some 4,000 years.

Through the ages, as man progressed through moral, ethical and spiritual consciousness, usury – the practice of lending money for profit at exorbitant interest – was condemned as an abomination as evil as rape or murder.

It was prohibited by the tenets of all the major religions, including Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Jainism, Christianity and Islam.

But over the past few hundred years, it has come to be accepted. It is now interpreted as “interest that is way above legal or socially acceptable levels”.

In Islam, however, usury (riba) remains forbidden.

But the cruel retributions of ancient usurers, such as whipping and imprisonment in private dungeons; seem to be still very much in practice – here in our own backyards.

Last week, Malaysia made headlines around the world for yet another ignominy. Three men who had borrowed between RM1,500 and RM4,000 from Ah Long were found shackled by their feet and neck and chained to the wall inside two six-by-seven metre prisons.

In between beatings, they were given tap water and a few slices of bread a day, which they had been eating beside open toilets to survive.

They had been in the cells for between 17 days and two months before police rescued them.

Like always, whenever a sensational story involving loan sharks makes the headlines and invokes outrage, the police – to use a clichéd term familiar with old school crime reporters – swung into action.

Or so, we thought. Actually, it was not quite the case, much to the surprise of Malaysians used to seeing our cops arresting political dissenters at the slightest whim.

Their quarry may be hardened crooks and likely members of merciless triads but the cops opted for a gentle approach, giving the loan sharks a 24-hour “grace period” to surrender.

My, what trust they have in such people and if I may add, what grace, in spite of the pressure they should really be under.

Our level of cynicism can only rise, especially when top police officers declare that they know the identities of the loan sharks and threaten to make their pictures public if they don’t come forward to give themselves up.

Let’s remind the cops one more time: Malaysians have become way too weary of listening to we-will-not-hesitate-to-act” statements.

Enforcement is a word with a simple meaning. If you know who they are, just nab them and charge them.

Illegal money lending is a crime. Whether the borrowers are irresponsible gamblers or desperate people who need money, is not the issue.

The pith of the matter is, Ah Long are raking in millions at the expense and misery of others through criminal means.

Under the Money Lenders Act, 1951 anyone caught committing the offence or attempting to commit it, can be arrested and brought to court. Offenders can be fined, sent to jail for up to 10 years or both.

The Act allows the police to charge a suspect in court based on any mark, signboard, card, letter, pamphlet, item, thing, article or goods that are reasonably believed to furnish evidence regarding the commission of such offence.

At the very least, action can also be taken under the Minor Offences Act 1955. This law states that any one who puts up advertisements, bills, notices, paper or banners on any property without authority can be jailed up to a year and fined up to RM1,000, or both.

Is there any city or town in the country where such signs, posters and banners – complete with phone numbers – have not been displayed conspicuously enough for all, including cops, to see?

Local councils and their enforcement units are equally guilty of allowing the loan sharking menace to flourish unfettered.

Ah Longs have become brazen enough to advertise their services as “commercial banking”, using posters nailed to trees, and stickers pasted on lamp posts, phone booths, bus stops and even road signs.

Sadly, there is reluctance on the part of local councils to act against this cruel and illegal business, unlike in cases of punishing errant hawkers and petty traders trying to eke out a living in difficult times.

Loan sharking is huge business, involving billions in the underground economy.

One does not need to be a rocket scientist to figure out its links to triads and syndicates dealing in drugs, vice, smuggling, illegal gambling and the like.

Investigations into the case of the shackled and chained borrowers led police to the arrest of several suspects connected to an Ah Long group called K9, and the uncovering of 200 files of debtors.

Records show that this syndicate has been operating over the past three years, collecting almost a cool half million a month in interest.

Police are now hunting down five loan shark operatives and have distributed pictures of the suspects. In all likelihood, the men on the wanted list are mere mah chais (underlings).

What the police and the Home Ministry need to do is track down the powerful kingpins behind them and find out just how many such syndicates there are. Better still, undertake a thorough study and table a While Paper in Parliament.

Otherwise, it will just be a repeat of the usual periodic blitzes against Ah Long, with interest petering out in a matter of time, forgotten until the next outrageous case is highlighted in the media.

The number of police reports and cases reported to the MCA’s Datuk Michael Chong and other service centres run by political parties must undoubtedly only be the tip of a massive iceberg.

With the economy in recession, more people are likely to end up as loan shark bait, especially those involved in small businesses and facing problems in dealing with the banks.

Already, Ah Long are literally holding the ATM cards of many Malay- sians caught in dire straits.

These monthly wage earners have surrendered their cards as collateral for loans and come each payday, the Ah Long will withdraw payment and interest before dishing out whatever is left to the card owner.

Those under the Ah Long’s clutches include civil servants and factory workers. With so little money left for their families, there is little hope for such people to crawl out of debt.

Associate Editor M. Veera Pandiyan likes this quote by economist John Maynard Keynes: If I owe you a pound, I have a problem; but if I owe you a million, the problem is yours.