By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-11-26 12:50:06 | Updated at 2024-11-26 15:31:41
2 hours ago
Hong Kong police have arrested 46 people and cracked down on a syndicate suspected of illegally lending at least HK$39 million to 6,500 domestic helpers.
The force said on Tuesday the syndicate mainly lured domestic helpers into high-interest loans, charging simple annual interest at a rate of 100 per cent.
Officers made the arrests four months after the Post reported a mobile phone chain was offering loans to helpers as “cash vouchers” and operating an illegal money lending business.
Police on Sunday and Monday raided eight phone retail shops associated with a syndicate, which purported to operate as a regular chain and individual stores. A video circulating on social media captured Sunday’s arrests outside World Wide House in Central.
The investigation revealed that the illegal money lender used the guise of a mobile phone chain to conceal its activities. Domestic helpers who wished to apply for loans were coerced into purchasing more expensive “gift boxes” that contained a mobile phone, skincare products and a small amount of cash.
“[The syndicate] also took advantage of the helpers who were in need of getting the loans,” Chief Inspector Ho Yan-kit of the Hong Kong Island crime unit said.
