Apr.11, 2010

JOHOR BARU: A Singaporean loan shark wanted in the island republic for money laundering was nabbed by Johor police at a house in Kota Tinggi on Friday.

The 37-year-old suspect, who is wanted under the Singapore Money-lenders Act, went into hiding in Johor on learning that Singaporean police were hot on his tracks.

The suspect, who had clients in Johor and Singapore, is believed to have targeted businesspeople and would threaten those who did not pay their debts. Initial investigations revealed that he usually splashed red paint on the premises of defaulters as a warning.

Johor police chief Datuk Mokhtar Shariff said his men acted on receiving information from their Singapore counterparts that the suspect was in the state.

"The operation was also based on information from Singapore's Immigration Department. Prior to that, we were issued a warrant of arrest by a Singapore court. We had it endorsed locally before mounting a surveillance operation," he said yesterday.

Mokhtar said the police team traced the suspect to a house in Kota Tinggi based on intelligence from the state and federal police.

"We immediately mounted surveillance of the house before our detectives moved in about 3.30pm on Friday."

It is learnt that the Singaporean, who was alone when arrested, attempted to escape by claiming that he was a tourist. However, the police team identified him.

The suspect was handed over to Singapore police four hours later.

Mokhtar warned foreign criminals not to use Johor as their hiding ground as police in neighbouring countries were constantly working with their Malaysian counterparts.

"You can run but the long arm of the law will eventually get you," he said, adding that stern action would also be taken against Malaysians who harboured foreign criminals.