THE STAR – Loan shark syndicates are hiring their customers to intimidate loan defaulters by splashing their houses with red paint.
Johor police chief Commissioner Kamarul Zaman Mamat said for splashing the red paint, each customer-turn-henchmen would be paid MYR450.
“If they manage to burn any properties or vehicles, they will be rewarded with MYR800. They are hired to do this just to pay off their debts. We have arrested 11 people, aged between 19 and 46, including a woman and a foreign man, for arson and they used Molotov cocktails to torch the house,” he said yesterday.
The commissioner said they were picked up in a series of raids on houses around Johor Baru on July 28-29.
He said they were working for at least two syndicates and while the customer-turn-henchmen would have their loan deducted, syndicate members would be paid via mule accounts.
“With the arrest, we have 13 cases involving such criminal acts and believe that more cases will be solved as the investigation progresses.”
