A LOAN shark, who admitted running an illegal money lending business from his Luton home, has been jailed for ten months.
Gary King, 28, had been arrested after a raid at his Arrow Close home carried out by the England Illegal Money Lending Team notebooks outlining more than 20 names and loan amounts, totalling more than £130,000. King was arrested and the notebooks were seized as evidence.
At a previous hearing the court heard how King, a double glazing warehouse worker, would buy various items online and from catalogues which he would sell on to his victims at a higher price. They would pay for these in instalments, often with interest on top.
In total King was owed around £124,000 at the time of his arrest.
The court heard that King sent expletive-filled threatening text messages to a former girlfriend who had fallen behind with repayments.
King did not give paperwork to his customers so borrowers were in the dark as to how much they still owed.
Despite his guilty plea, King had claimed in court that he did not realise that his actions were wrong. He also claimed that prosecution evidence that he had been warned that his activities were criminal by his employer were false.
Sentencing in a Newton hearing on Friday, Judge Baker QC spoke of how King was “prepared to enforce payment by pressure, deceit and veiled threats”
He said: “This kind of conduct crosses the custody threshold and has to be discouraged.”
Tony Quigley Head of the Illegal Money Lending Team said: “This case exemplifies how illegal money lending will not be tolerated. We are cracking down on unlicensed lenders, who are a scourge on our communities.
“These criminals make victims lives a misery, by trapping them into a spiral of debt.”
Councillor Mohammed Ashraf, who is responsible for Luton Trading Standards, said: “This case shows that loan sharks in Luton will be brought to justice. If you are a victim of a loan shark or you know of a loan shark in your neighbourhood, then report them.”
> To report a loan shark call the 24/7 confidential hotline 0300 555 2222 Text ‘loan shark + your message’ to 60003 E-mail reportaloanshark@stoploansharks.gov.uk or log-on to www.direct.gov.uk/stoploansharks.