Four Indonesians – three women and a man – were arrested separately this week for lending usurious loans to about 30 compatriots earlier this year, involving illegal earnings of between about 80,000 and 100,000 patacas, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lou Chan Fai said at a press conference on Wednesday.
The four suspects comprise a 38-year-old masseuse named Siti, a 34-year-old jobless woman surnamed Sumartini, a 29-year-old female cleaner named Dwi and a 32-year-old man named Kadek who works as a hotel security guard. Sumartini holds a temporary stay permit while the other three are non-resident workers, Lou said.
According to Lou, the Public Security Police (PSP) referred several suspected fraud cases to the Judiciary Police on Sunday which seven Indonesian women had reported to the police recently. The women complained that their passports were being retained as collateral by compatriots they had borrowed money from. The victims told the police that they borrowed money separately from the suspects between May and September this year. They borrowed between 1,000 and 3,000 patacas each from the suspects who charged them a monthly interest of 300 patacas for every 1,000 patacas they borrowed. The victims were required to hand over their passports to the suspects as collateral. However, after the victims had repaid their loans plus interest, the suspects refused to give them back their passports but asked for more money instead. So, the victims reported their cases to the police.
Lou said that the Judiciary Police discovered that five Indonesians were involved in the case and they worked as a gang to lend usurious loans to their compatriots. PJ officers identified the suspects and the Public Security Police assisted in arresting Sumartini on Monday while she was extending her temporary stay permit at the immigration department. PJ officers arrested Siti at her home in Avenida do Ouvidor Arriaga (雅廉訪大馬路) later that day. The officers arrested Dwi and Kadek the next day in a flat in Rua da Emenda (義字街). Seven Indonesian passports and several loan account books were seized from them. Lou said that two of the seven passports belonged to two of the seven victims and the police are contacting the other five passport holders. The quartet admitted to committing usury and each of them had their own role to play in the gang such as lending and soliciting customers, involving about 30 fellow Indonesians, since February this year. The Judiciary Police are continuing their investigation into the case and at the time of the press conference were still looking for the fifth suspect.
The four suspects were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) on Wednesday morning, facing charges of usury and improper retention of others’ identification and travel documents, according to Lou.
