Penang Woman Living In Fear After Fire Threat By Singapore Loan Shark

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Cheoh Phaik Gaik shows a video of her gate set ablaze and a copy of her police report.GEORGE TOWN: A woman is living in fear after her gate was set on fire by two men believed to have been sent by a “scammer” loan shark in Singapore
Cheoh Phaik Gaik’s problems began when her son was duped into taking a loan of S$200 (RM614) online
She said her son returned the loan immediately after suspecting something was not right, but the loan shark started harassing him, asking for RM20,000 a week later
The sum has since ballooned to RM200,000 because of interests, she said
On Saturday, two men on a motorcycle rode up to the gate of her house on Aboo Sittee Lane here, poured petrol over it and set it ablaze
They then chained it with a padlock and hung an expletive-riddled scroll written in Mandarin demanding their dues on the gate
The loan shark then sent her a video of the men setting fire to her gate as a warning
“The scroll carried a warning that they will ‘burn some more’ if we did not answer their calls and give what they want,” Cheoh told a press conference organised by the Penang Front Party here today
She said her car was scratched and dented in Air Itam previously and believed it was done by men sent by the loan shark as she received a call soon after that asking for their money back
Cheoh said the loan shark stopped targeting her son after a police report was lodged in Singapore but was now targeting the family in Penang
“I think they found our address through my son’s IC,” she said, adding that she has lodged a police report here fearing for the safety of her family. - FMT

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