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Police today (August 22) arrested six men for criminal intimidation in Tsuen Wan.

Since 2004, there have been 19 complaints against a moneylending agency at Nam Fung Centre in Tsuen Wan for its exorbitant handling fees charged to its borrowers. The fees included $250 handling charge, $350-500 address verification fee and $800 administrative charge. The applicant would further be charged for an additional guarantor's charge of a few thousand dollars when the company referred the applicant to obtain a standard $5,000 loan from a designated licensed money lender.

          Initial enquiries also revealed that the applicants were instructed to sign an agreement which stated that all the aforesaid charges would be paid once the application was approved no matter the applicants accepted the loans or not. The majority of applicants paid no heed to the terms and conditions and only discovered the facts after signing the agreement.

          Police received a report on August 17 that a 53-year-old applicant experienced the same ordeal and refused to make payment. He was urged by an unknown person to settle the payment and was criminally intimidated.

          District Crime Squad of Tsuen Wan District took action this morning and raided the company, resulting in the arrest of six males aged between 14 and 23 and the seizure of one set of computer and eight carton boxes of documents.

          The arrested persons are still being detained for further questioning.

          Police urge anyone who had been criminally intimidated by the company but have yet reported to the Police to contact the police investigating officers at 2417 5360 or 2417 5358.

          Members of the public are also reminded to pay particular attention to the terms and conditions of any agreement signed during applications of loan with a view to avoiding any exorbitant charges and the subsequent criminal act.

Police Report No. 6

Ends/Monday, August 22, 2005

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