Footage leads to arrest of alleged loan shark harasser

SINGAPORE — Police camera footage assisted in the arrest of a suspected loan shark harasser today (Oct 7), a mere eight minutes after he had allegedly committed the act.

At 2.52am, the police got a call that paint had been splashed on the main door of a flat in Jurong East Street 24 and loan shark graffiti was being scrawled on the wall.

After viewing the footage from police cameras in the area, officers from the Clementi Police Division managed to nab a 21-year-old suspect at about 3am in the vicinity of the flat.

In a press release, the police said preliminary investigations suggest that the suspect could have helped loan shark syndicates carry out a series of harassment acts in several locations, including Jurong West, Choa Chu Kang, Woodlands, Ang Mo Kio and Yishun. He is believed to have splashed paint outside debtors’ residences and scrawled loan shark-related graffiti on the walls.

A marker, six pieces of paper with writings, six cans of paint and six plastic bags were found in his possession, the police added. The suspect will be charged in court tomorrow for loan shark harassment, which carries a fine of at least S$5,000 and up to S$50,000, mandatory imprisonment of up to five years and mandatory caning of up to six strokes.

Meanwhile, Second Home Affairs Minister S Iswaran told Parliament today that about 18,000 surveillance cameras have been installed in 3,300 Housing Development Board (HDB) blocks to date — one-third of the total number it hopes to achieve by 2016.

In response to Member of Parliament Lee Bee Wah’s question on whether these cameras can be installed immediately at all new HDB blocks, Mr Iswaran said: “What will happen is first (provisions) will be made for those that are being built and completed in the next two years ... beyond that I think once we hit a steady state situation then the roll-out can be more in tandem with the development of new blocks.”