Loan sharks
Illegal Money Lending Team
In the past the Illegal Money Lending Team has secured convictions for drugs offences, blackmail, violence, rape and other offences linked to the illegal lending.
Across the Stop Loan Sharks Project more than 200 prosecutions leading to 130 years worth of prison sentences have been secured for illegal money lending and related offences, almost £40million worth of illegal debt has been written off and over 18,000 victims have been helped.
Loan sharking is an illegal activity; it makes victims lives a misery.
Victims are trapped into spiraling debt and the loan sharks often resort to the most extreme methods such as violence, threats or intimidation to pressure victims into paying loans back.
Nationally there are an estimated 310,000 households borrowing from illegal money lenders.
With a lack of paperwork, victims are kept in the dark about how much is owed and will charge exorbitant interest rates - in some cases in excess of 130,000% APR.