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Moneylenders on alert in wake of armed robbery cases

LaksaNews

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SINGAPORE - Installing 360-degree cameras, working with security companies and going cashless.

These are some of the additional precautions pawnshops, money changers, and moneylenders in the heartland are considering in the wake of the armed robbery at OT Credit on Monday.

They told The Sunday Times they were on the alert following the news of two armed robberies in five months at the Jurong East moneylender's shop.


Licensed moneylending chain Lending Bee plans to increase security measures at all its four outlets by having more closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras outside, encouraging the use of digital transfers, and linking up with security companies.

Its executive director, Ms Hazel Loi, said

the outlets are equipped with security systems. When an outlet's glass door is broken, an alarm will go off and the security company will report the incident to the police.


Loan services company Cash Mart conducted a briefing for staff to address the seriousness of the robbery incident, particularly since a revolver was said to have been used.

Its managing director, Mr Jimmy Lee, said that CCTV cameras cover the entire sales area and the front of the Balestier shop. He added: "We do not recommend that our employees get physical with the robber. They are trained to fulfil the robber's request and call the police once the doors are locked."

The first robbery at moneylending shop OT Credit happened last November.

In that case, Kotta Kumar Jeswanth, 19, had pulled the hair of an OT Credit employee and held her at knifepoint. He and his alleged accomplices fled the scene with $48,000.


In February, Kotta was sentenced to undergo reformative training for a minimum of one year.

On Monday, Aetos officer Mahadi Muhamad Mukhtar, 38, allegedly robbed the same shop of more than $24,000 in cash while armed with a revolver.

In a Facebook post on Friday, Minister for Home Affairs and Law K. Shanmugam applauded the police for arresting the suspect within five hours.

He noted the police have installed almost 90,000 cameras islandwide. He wrote: "These help deter crime, and help the police solve crimes quickly."

ValueMax, which runs more than 40 outlets including pawnshops and moneylending and remittance services, believes it is unwise to rob any finance-related outlet in Singapore because of security features commonly found in such shops, coupled with an efficient police force.

An added security measure taken at Western Union's Clementi branch, which handles international money transfers, is pulling down the shutters when money is being counted.

Manager Bhargav Muralidharan said: "Especially now when many people are out of jobs and having difficulties, we have to be careful."

Aside from having glass panels and CCTV cameras, money changer GoldMillion Xchange in Toa Payoh has at least two employees at the unit at all times.

One of them, Madam Anisa Abdul Gaffoor, said: "We can identify suspicious characters from their body language. Those who really want to change money will not chit-chat or stand at the counter for long as they are holding money and can also be targeted."

Credit Association of Singapore president Peter Tan said that simply adding more CCTV cameras in a shop may have diminishing returns. "There can only be so many CCTV (cameras) in an office and anything more will be superfluous," he said.

He urged lenders to go cashless with their transactions through cheques.

He added: "Fortunately, these robberies are isolated incidents and we have a highly efficient police force, so the culprits are very quickly apprehended."

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