Chiayi, March 12 (CNA) The Nationwide Immigration Company (NIA) has cracked down on a mortgage shark ring that focused Indonesian migrant staff and compelled them to pay as much as 152 % curiosity on the quantities they borrowed, the company mentioned Saturday.
The NIA’s Chiayi County Brigade not too long ago searched 4 places in Taichung and Changhua with native police and located 342 passports, receipts for loans, accounts, and cash counting machines, and over NT$7 million (US$246,303) in money, mentioned deputy brigade chief Lai Shu-yi (賴淑怡).
A complete of twenty-two folks regarded as concerned with the mortgage shark ring, together with 5 important suspects, have been additionally summoned for questioning, and when two of the 5 didn’t present up, they have been arrested, the NIA mentioned in a separate assertion.
All 22 have been later launched after being interrogated, however the case has been handed over to the Taichung District Prosecutors Workplace for additional investigation to find out if the primary suspects ought to be indicted for violating prison and banking legal guidelines, the NIA mentioned.
The investigation started after an Indonesian migrant employee tipped off the NIA to the mortgage shark ring on the finish of final yr.
The employee mentioned he borrowed cash from the ring to assist out with an emergency in his hometown and was requested at hand over his passport, signal a promissory be aware, and conform to excessive rates of interest, the NIA mentioned.
The investigation finally discovered that the ring was charging the employees an annual rate of interest of 121 % to 152 %.
Lai advised CNA the ring was headed by a Taiwanese man surnamed Yang (楊) and an Indonesian Chinese language girl surnamed Huang (黃), who’s suspected of posting ads on-line that focused Indonesian migrant staff.
Lots of the staff borrowed cash from the ring as a result of they wanted cash for emergencies and had no different authorized channels by way of which they might entry funds, mentioned Lai, who estimated that there have been a whole bunch of victims throughout Taiwan.
Debtors who weren’t in a position to pay again their loans and curiosity on time had their pictures and mortgage particulars posted on social media, and ring members would even flip up on the residence of the employee’s employer to drive the employee to pay the cash again, in keeping with the NIA.
An Indonesian caregiver in New Taipei, whose identify has been withheld for her security, advised CNA she had a mortgage company name her repeatedly even after she repaid a mortgage to harass her and threaten to inform her employer that she nonetheless owed them cash.
She knowledgeable her employer, and he advised her to inform the mortgage company he would name police in the event that they known as once more. After doing as her employer instructed, the mortgage company stopped calling, she mentioned.