Many people around the world have found themselves in financial difficulty as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. With nowhere to turn to, some have chosen to take on loans from moneylenders.
A Malaysian working in Singapore is one such individual.
However, after he got into a debt collection dispute with the moneylender, he found his house in Johor being set on fire, allegedly by the suspected loansharks.
The police have received a report and are investigating the case.
According to Shin Min Daily News, Mr Qiu, a 32-year-old chemical recycling plant operator, came across a Facebook post advertising moneylending services.
Mr Qiu subsequently got in touch with the moneylenders through WhatsApp.
Later, Mr Qiu applied for a $2,000 loan from the moneylenders – who claimed to be legal operators – and provided some personal information.
Mr Qiu had reportedly wanted to use the funds to repay a friend he borrowed from during the Movement Control Order period in Malaysia.
However, the moneylenders claimed he could only borrow $500, as they wanted to verify if Mr Qiu was trustworthy, reports Sin Chew Daily.
Mr Qiu soon grew suspicious and suspected that the moneylenders were operating illegally – AKA ah longs – after further probing.
Not wanting to borrow money from ah longs, Mr Qiu had planned to close his bank account to stop any attempted transferring of funds.
Just 2 days later, however, he received $450 in his account from the moneylenders. The remaining $50 was purportedly deducted as an ‘interest rate’.
Mr Qiu claimed he was strong-armed into accepting the loans, as the suspected loansharks threatened to expose him at his office and harass his house in Malaysia.
The 32-year-old had apparently just arrived in Singapore to work and did not want to cause trouble for his company.
Left with no choice, he could only repay $200 of interest after a week.
Over the next 3-4 weeks, the moneylenders obtained $2,200 from Mr Qiu by using a multitude of excuses, such as:
The last straw came when the alleged loanshark requested $2,400, claiming that his bank account was frozen.
After notifying his employer, Mr Qiu lodged a police report in end-July and was reportedly advised to change his phone number.
However, it seems the moneylenders caught wind of this as they allegedly visited Mr Qiu’s house in Johor Bahru last Tuesday (17 Aug) at 3am and set fire to the apartment.
Mr Qiu’s wife and 3 daughters were at home during the time and were understandably frightened.
A car was also reportedly burned down in the process, resulting in damages worth about S$20,000 in total.
When Mr Qiu’s friend arrived at the scene, he found a note outside the home from the suspected loansharks.
Afterwards, Mr Qiu got in touch with the moneylenders who claimed they’d harass them again if he becomes uncontactable.
Speaking to Shin Min Daily News, Mr Qiu urged the moneylenders to let bygones be bygones and stop harassing his family.
He has also made arrangements to install CCTVs and to find temporary accommodation for his family.
When contacted by Shin Min Daily News, the police confirmed that they’d received a report regarding the incident.
While this story remains one-sided for now, it is not right to resort to horrific means just so that things would go our way.
We hope no one was injured during the fire and whoever started the fire would stop employing such dangerous tactics.
At the end of the day, we hope Mr Qiu would be able to cut all ties with the suspected ah longs and can get help from legal agencies if he needs to.
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Featured image adapted from Sin Chew Daily News.
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