HE WAS hired in Taiwan two months ago and promised $3,600 a
month to harass debtors here for a loan shark syndicate. But Wu
Ting-Yi was arrested before he could get started.
The 29-year-old Taiwanese was jailed for seven months yesterday
by a district court for conspiring to commit acts of harassment for
an unknown illegal moneylending syndicate. He could have been
jailed for up to five years and fined up to $50,000.
According to court documents, Wu, who was unemployed, was
recruited in Kaohsiung, a city in south-west Taiwan, by a syndicate
member known only as Xiao Su.
He was told that his air ticket to Singapore and accommodation
here would be paid for and that his job was to deface walls and
lock debtors with outstanding loans inside their homes.
For this, he would be paid $3,600 a month. If arrested, he would
receive $900 in compensation for every month he served in jail and
an additional $3,600 if he was caned.
He then flew down with another Taiwanese, Chen Ci Fan, on Aug 20
this year, after both were granted month-long social visit
passes.
Wu was arrested on Aug 22, in a carpark in Hamilton Road near
Lavender MRT station, before he even got started.
He has been in remand since.
The court was told that Chen, 30, had also been arrested and
that his case would be heard later this month. Xiao Su, who is also
Taiwanese, is on the run.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Sherlyn Neo told the court that at
least eight foreigners, including Wu, have been involved in illegal
moneylending activities in recent times.
Lawyer S. S. Dhillon told The Straits Times that more
Singaporeans, aware of stiffer sentences for such offences, are
becoming harder to recruit, so syndicates turn to foreigners.
KHUSHWANT SINGH
