Police have closed down five triad-controlled financial consultancies, and arrested 12 directors and employees after they allegedly charged 'huge and unreasonable' fees from loan applicants, including undercover police.
Loan applicants were being charged various fees that could total more than HK$8,000 on a HK$10,000 loan, officers said. 'Those who borrowed a few thousand dollars might have to pay what they borrowed to cover the huge fees,' one officer said.
Those who refused to pay the fees and wanted to withdraw their applications faced threats, assault and unlawful detention, Superintendent Danny Ngan Chor-kwok of New Territories South regional crime unit said. Investigations showed the five companies preyed on jobless people and those who could not secure loans from banks and licensed finance companies, he said.
Police said applicants included housewives, taxi drivers, delivery workers and odd-job labourers.
Chief Inspector Albert Hui Kwai-sang of the New Territories South anti-triad unit said: 'It is possible that many applicants might have withdrawn their loan applications after paying part of the huge and unreasonable fees.'
Documents seized from the five companies in Tsuen Wan and Kwai Chung showed that more than 2,000 applicants fell for the ploy and each borrowed HK$5,000 to HK$30,000.