KUALA LUMPUR: An IT executive learned a difficult lesson about relying on loan sharks for fast money. Yap Wai Fong revealed that he had paid back nearly six times the original loan amount after borrowing RM12,000 from four different loan shark companies. Despite repaying RM70,000, the loan sharks are still demanding more.
Yap said, “After giving me the agreed sum, the loan sharks continued making transfers into my bank account and employment bank account without my permission.” As a result, the loan sharks demanded repayment of the original loan amount, the additional sum, and late repayment fines.
During a press conference held by MCA Public Services and Complaint Department head Datuk Seri Michael Chong on Jan 26, Yap described his experience. He mentioned that at the time he took the loans, his wife was very sick and his children were misbehaving. He had seen many Facebook advertisements for loans, and when he inquired, they promised a credible and transparent process.
Yap has taken action by lodging a police report and closing or freezing his bank accounts to prevent further unauthorized transfers by the loan sharks. Additionally, three more victims of the loan sharks attended the press conference.
One victim, retiree Lee Yin, shared that eight different moneylenders had harassed him. He explained that his son, who left home four years ago, had borrowed from the loan sharks. Lee Yin’s daughter, who accompanied him, stated, “The loan sharks keep demanding money from us, but we don’t know how much money was owed and how much to pay.” They also revealed that just 24 hours after making a police report, the loan sharks learned about it and intensified their threats, causing even more fear.
Datuk Seri Michael Chong expressed dismay over the increasing number of cases early in the year, stating, “It hasn’t been a month, and we have already received 21 cases involving more than RM1.7 million, of which 16 involve Chinese individuals. In 2023, we received over 300 cases involving RM21 million in total, and 271 cases were Chinese individuals.”
