Ex-detective fined S$50,000 for unlicensed moneylending
SINGAPORE — A former detective who was an unlicensed moneylender was fined S$50,000 today (Aug 21).
SINGAPORE — A former detective who was an unlicensed moneylender was fined S$50,000 today (Aug 21).
Choo Hock Leng, 53, was convicted of operating an illegal moneylending business between January 1997 and June 1997.
He lent out some S$40,000, charging the debtors monthly interest rates of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent.
The prosecution proceeded on two of the six charges.
Court documents showed that Choo was a detective sergeant with the Singapore Police Force when he committed some of the offences. But he resigned in February 1997.
Investigations showed that Choo ran the illegal moneylending business between August 1996 and June 1997, and was at that time assisted by a senior staff sergeant Tan Lay Hin and sergeant Goh Cheng Huat.
In submissions, the prosecution asked for a fine of S$40,000. It noted that the offences were committed in 1997, before the amendments to the Penal Code were introduced.
Back then, the minimum fine was S$10,000 and there was no mandatory jail term. CHANNEL NEWSASIA
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