52 people in Bangkok arrested for alleged involvement in illegal loan operation
Thai immigration police arrested 52 people who were allegedly involved in an illegal loan shark operation using a smartphone application called “Speedwallet” to provide loans with interest rates higher than the legal limit.
Police had received complaints from several of the application’s customers. Speedwallet provided loans of 5,000 baht to 20,000 baht and collected interest rates of 12% to 15% each week, police say. The legal limit is 15% each year.
“Further investigation also showed that they had previously allegedly run eight applications before Speedwallet and had more than 5,000 customers.”
One customer told police that anyone who failed to repay their debt would be harassed with several phone calls.
Police raided a home in Bangkok’s Wangthonglang district, arresting 5 Chinese nationals and a Singaporean national allegedly ran the operation. The other 46 people arrested allegedly worked as debt collectors.
“The company allegedly hired several Thai staff as debt collectors, with a salary of 12,000 baht per month.”
SOURCE: Nation Thailand
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