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Loan sharks intimidate woman Tue, Feb 23, 2010
The Star/Asia News Network

By Zalinah Noordin

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: Loan sharks are using handcuffs to threaten defaulters - and the latest victim is a 76-year-old woman from Klang. A group of five men and a woman had gone to spinster Lee Soo Lewi at Lee Wai Yee's home at Jalan Keranji in February last year and demanded she pay a relative's debt. They carried handcuffs.

When she said that she had no money, they asked her to surrender her passport and a copy of her identification card. Afraid for her safety as she was living alone, Lee did as she was told. She said that she was forced to sign a piece of paper which stated that she owed S$13,270 (RM32,000) to the loan sharks.

"They told me that I had to pay them S$13,270 (RM32,000) as my relative who borrowed money from them had absconded. "I told them that I should not be the one paying the debt as I wasn't the one who owed them the money but they insisted I was partly responsible as I was the one who introduced my relative to them," she said.

Easy target: Lee with Chong at Wisma MCA yesterday. She is seeking help from the Public Complaints Bureau after she was threatened with handcuffs. Lee said that while they were talking to her, one of the man dangled the handcuffs, as if indicating that he would not hesitate to us it on her.

"They left after they got hold of my identification papers but I was still scared as I thought I would be handcuffed," said Lee, who sought help from MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Michael Chong at the MCA headquarters here yesterday.

Lee said the relative had borrowed the money from the woman to use as business capital.

However, the relative disappeared in June 2008 after failing to settle his debts and Lee has been bearing the brunt of the loan sharks' wrath ever since. She claimed that the group harassed her two days before Chinese New Year. She hoped the bureau could help her.

zalinah@thestar.com.my