(Kuala Lumpur, 13th) — A young Chinese man in Malaysia suffered a business failure and lost RM10,000. In an attempt to recover, he borrowed nearly RM30,000 from 14 loan sharks, only to find himself trapped in a vicious cycle of repaying old debts with new loans. Eventually, he could no longer keep up and was extorted by loan sharks who demanded exorbitant sums.
The youth, Mr. Chan (23), claimed he tried to cash in on the trend of collectible toys by pre-ordering a large number of Pokémon cards and the popular Labubu figurines. However, the venture failed, resulting in a RM10,000 loss. In desperation, he borrowed nearly RM30,000 from 14 different loan sharks to keep the business afloat. But as he fell deeper into the cycle of “borrowing new loans to repay old ones,” he eventually came clean to his parents.
His parents stepped in and helped repay RM49,000, which cleared debts with 12 of the 14 loan sharks. However, the remaining two loan sharks, who had each only lent him RM1,000, demanded outrageous repayments of RM15,000 and RM29,000 respectively.
Left with no options, Mr. Chan sought help from Datuk Seri Michael Chong, Head of the MCA Public Services and Complaints Department, and held a press conference this morning to share his ordeal.
He admitted that he initially aimed to profit from the trend of collectible toys by reselling Labubu dolls and Pokémon cards. He made large pre-orders, but due to market saturation and price depreciation, he incurred losses of nearly RM10,000.
“I didn’t want my family to know, so I turned to social media to find solutions. I ended up borrowing nearly RM30,000 from 14 loan sharks. The more I borrowed, the deeper the debt hole became. I had no choice but to confess to my family, and they helped me repay most of the debts.”
Mr. Chan said that the loan sharks began putting up posters around his neighborhood to shame him, and even threatened to splash red paint on his house if he didn’t pay up. Fearing for his safety, he had no choice but to seek help from Michael Chong.
In response, Michael Chong stated that this case is a scam involving intimidation tactics by loan sharks. He said that both the victim and his family have lodged police reports in Melaka and Kajang, Selangor, and that he will continue to follow up with the police regarding this matter.
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