Loan-sharking ring busted, 27 arrested

Judiciary Police (PJ) have busted a loan-sharking ring from Mainland China and arrested 27 suspects, according to a report by TDM Radio yesterday.
The PJ said the group had been active since April this year. It is suspected that the ring is involved in about 100 usury cases involving some HK$20 million (US$2.6 million).
The arrested suspects included the group’s leaders, mid-level core members and other offline members.
According to the PJ, the group had been distributing its members to station at various local casinos for the purpose of luring gamblers to borrow money from the ring.
Mid-level members of the criminal group would decide whether to give loans when the borrowed amount was less than HK$100,000, whilst it was the leader’s decision if the borrowing exceeded that amount.
The borrowers would be brought to a VIP room in Taipa to gamble after they were given the loans by the group but 10 and 20 per cent of their chips would be taken by the group each time they bet.
The case has been handed to the Public Prosecutor’s Office.