80 youth questioned in loan-sharking investigation
80 youngsters were arrested on Thursday following a two-day anti-loan sharking operation by the Singapore Police Force.
Parents of the children waited anxiously at the Bedok Police Division after investigators questioned the youths late into the night.
Parents told The Straits Times that some of the kids were even handcuffed and taken to the station in police cars, while others were told to report to the station on their own.
The police said that the youths have since been released on bail and are assisting with the investigations.
Aged between 12 and 21, the youths were allegedly part of a loan-sharking syndicate and helped out by distributing name cards and pamphlets advertising illegal moneylending activities.
"It was basic chaos," said a 45-year-old father at the station, which was packed with worried parents when he arrived at 10pm. The manager, who declined to be named, said his 13-year-old son was picked up by the police for questioning.
"Imagine waiting at a police station as your children are being questioned by the police."
He added that his son, a Secondary One student, was only trying to make some extra pocket money during the June holidays, and was duped into helping loan sharks.
The boy had responded to an online advertisement on classifieds website Gumtree seeking students to give out fliers, he said.
However, he did not realise his son would end up working for a loan-sharking syndicate.
"He thought it was so harmless, he didn't even inform me," said the father, who only found out about the incident when his son had to go down to the police station for questioning.
The youngsters who contacted the person who posted the online ad were told to meet him in person thereafter.
They went to an office in Ang Mo Kio and were asked to fill in personal details. After which, they were briefed on what they were supposed to do -- give out fliers, name cards and pamphlets for three days to get paid.
They would also have to meet their "employer" daily at pre-arranged locations to collect a fresh stack of name cards and pamphlets.
They were paid S$14 for every 1,000 fliers distributed, and S$16 for giving out the same number of name cards.
The anxious father said that his son stopped after the first day -- and has not been paid -- as the job was tiring and boring,
Leaving the police station with his son at midnight, the father said, "The bottom line is that these kids are innocent. At their age, how would they know they were working for loan sharks?"
