INTIMIDATION and violence, using 'street toughs', are used on a regular basis to retrieve outstanding money, according to the head of a debt recovery agency in Tsim Sha Tsui.
The collector, Mr Wong (not his real name), made the claim in an exclusive interview with the Sunday Morning Post. His company specialises in getting back cash owed to mainland companies by Hong Kong entrepreneurs.
Mr Wong admitted his business used 'street toughs', and added that even triad bosses were not immune. If one of them was in debt, the firm was prepared to risk full-scale triad warfare to extract a payment. 'When we talk to the debtor, we tell them if you don't pay up you know what will happen.
'Our company will use any means possible to help others retrieve long-delayed debts over $5,000,' Mr Wong said. 'The higher the amount and the further afield the debtor lives, the more we will charge. Usually we will get 20 or 30 per cent of the debt while the rest will go to the client.' 'In collecting debts, it is sometimes necessary for us to use violence and intimidation. Experience tells us such methods are the most efficient way of collecting debts,' he said.
'If the debtors do not pay up after we tell them, we will harass them or their close relatives in different ways.
'Usually we go to the debtors' houses first. If we cannot find them, we contact their relatives using the same methods we use for debtors.