JOHOR BARU: Johor police have busted an unlicensed moneylending syndicate with the arrest of six men.

       State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) chief Senior Asst Comm Shahurinain Jais said they traced the syndicate’s activities to Kuala Lumpur where a raid was conducted at Menara K1, Lorong 3 in Jalan Klang Lama at around 11.30am on Wednesday (April 20).

       "We raided the syndicate’s office space which was used as a call centre to offer illegal moneylending services to locals.

       "The syndicate has been active for the past two years and offered illegal loans from RM300 up to RM20,000 with interest rates ranging from 10% to 30%.

       "Six locals linked to the ring were arrested during the raid in which we also seized 23 mobile devices, 13 SIM cards, nine ATM cards, books with moneylenders’ records, application forms and electrical devices," he said in a statement on Friday (April 22).

       The six suspects, aged 24 to 31, have been placed under remand for four days to help with investigations.

       The case was being investigated under Section 5(2) of the Moneylenders Act 1951, which carried a penalty of not less than RM250,000 and not more than RM1mil, or imprisonment of not more than five years, or both.

       "The public should refrain from borrowing money from unlicensed moneylenders because of their very high interest rates where, upon failure to repay the loan in a given period, the interest will multiply.

       "The moneylenders will then use tactics such as splashing paint and even hurting the borrowers in efforts to scare them into servicing the debt," added SAC Shahurinain.

       Those with information about such activities could head to the nearest police station or call the Johor police hotline at 07-221 2999.