74-Year-Old American Expat Faces Deportation Over Loan Sharking: Phuket

[canopus1969]

BIB = ?

Thank you...

Boys in Blue aka the police

Errrr 'Blue' ??

[theblether]

Either he was lending money or he wasnt.......its as simple as that.......

If he wasnt then its a shame for him because he is still looking at deportation and he will find it hard to travel anywhere with a deportation stamp on his passport

If he was then he is a dog, I have seen the effect these people have in my own country and in Thailand, the promise of the loan always comes with the guarantee of violence for non payment

[crazykopite]

10% interest until payday is not too bad. Typical rate for the Filipinos, i would have thought. I am sure that the guy did not know about the maximum rate of interest law. Ms Alpay was his Filipina secretary, i read. Are there so many Pinoys in Phuket, 500 ?

I think my calculations are correct, according to me, he was making over 30,000 USD a month from the interest, 15 million baht @ 10% interest per month. Loan sharking

15 mill investment could earn you that kind of money if put with a very good investment company what does concern me is that the maximum interest rate is 15% per year I know a few farangs who have got into financial difficulties and are paying that type of interest per month to wealthy Thai's and dare I suggest that there are Thai loan sharks doing the same to there fellow country men/woman it is called robbing the poor to make them rich it happens all over the world unfortunatley.

[BWPattaya]

It makes me wonder why, when he has plenty of money to loan out, he has to be greedy? 15 million Bt is plenty for him to live on, plus a pension. If someone is so poor that they have to borrow thousands of Bt how can they pay it back, especially with a 10% monthly (compound?) interest rate?

I have zero sympathy for him.

[Tatsujin]

It's Boys In Brown, not Boys in Blue (BiB) - Thai Police generally wear a brown uniform, not blue

[sawadeeken]

I'm laughing myself to exhaustion..... How wonderful they 'busted' him......... I hate rip-off artists whether they are Thai or farang (farang is worse - and I am his peer)...... I know many Thais doing this and in my eyes it puts them in the same 'greed catagory' as the ex-PM that was convicted over his greed, however smaller scale......... I hope he serves time in Thailand before being deported........

[Debothai]

It looks to me that the issue here is he or they didn't have work permts, and they charged too much interest, The question that comes to mind here is, all these guys from India that sell nuts and beans from a basket, that move on to become loan sharks, do they all have work permits? They are a very conspicuous enterprise with their nice motorcycles and turbins so it's probably not illegal. does anyone know the means of getting into this line of work? it looks like easy money.

I heard from various sources that the indian guys selling beans sprinkle a bit of their own piss on the beans before going out to sell it. This is a popular urban myth, but I refrain from purchasing any of these types of nuts...

[Evilbaz]

BIB = ?

Thank you...

Boys in Blue aka the police

Hmmm - they are Boys in Brown (or Black) here in LOS.

[Estrada]

The police know that loan sharks exist on almost every village or soi in Thailand. From my experience, foreman and pay clerks in offices, factories and construction projects run these scams as they can get the repayments as soon as the worker's pay packets are handed over. Indians can be seen riding around on bicycles or motorcycles collecting money on the sois. The Interest rate is usually 10% per month, and up to 20% per month. Although the maximum rate that can be charged by law is 15% per annum by private lenders, the courts have yet to get their act together to enforce the law. The Banks and Financial institutions (legal loan sharks) can charge what they like, although a maximum rate of 28% is recommended.

The truth of the matter is surely that these foreigners have set up in competition to the local mafia and they are lucky that the are only facing deportation.

[krading]

I don't know about taking jobs from Thais but the 'lender' who services our village is an Indian on a 6 month visa. When his visa is up his brother takes over for the next 6 months.

and our ice-cream vendor is a Bangladeshi also on a 6 month visa.

[wxyz]

had he had a thai partner, there probably would not have been a problem

esp if it was a BiB

It was probably his filipino partner that talked him into the business and of course got him all their customers

[rockderk]

Would that American be 'the famous Italian Designer Anthony Granata', from whose drawings and sketches a certain luxurious villa close to Bang Tao Beach -and which, coincidentally I'm sure, appears to be for sale at 32mil - was built? This pops up when you google [images] his name. And the villa looks similar to the one he's sitting in with the cops in the paper.

[Naam]

10% interest until payday is not too bad. Typical rate for the Filipinos, i would have thought. I am sure that the guy did not know about the maximum rate of interest law. Ms Alpay was his Filipina secretary, i read. Are there so many Pinoys in Phuket, 500 ?

I think my calculations are correct, according to me, he was making over 30,000 USD a month from the interest, 15 million baht @ 10% interest per month. Loan sharking

make that USD 47,600 a month based on todays exchange rate.

[ericthai]

Correction BIB=Boys in "Brown"

Never seen police in Thailand in Blue.

[corkman]

Really guys - what's the big bloody deal?

He's not interferring with kids, nor is he exploiting poor people as crack-smugglers..... he's not running a taxi mafia, he's not intimidating people, or skimming off the top...... someone walks in and says please can I have 10,000 - he says "yes you can, it will cost you 10% per month until its paid off" ..... expensive, yes..... but there is nothing deceiptful about that.

Its not like he is renting them a motorbike for a few hundred baht a day, then demanding 10,000 baht for a crack head light on its return.

Sure - there are some people absolutely desperate for money, for a seriously ill child or something ..... but for the most part, it is people living beyond their means in some way or another..... poor wages and all that are a greater social issues.... not his fault, nor his doing......

Really - I am at a lost to understand why everyone wants to see this guy nailed to the cross???

[northernboy]

He should do what Honest Thai banks and finace companaies do a mere 15% interest a year but many fees. A bank loan for one year and a secured loans is like actually 28% a year of monies received due to fees and charges. Legal if he had worded it differently and still got his 10% a month. As if banks would give them a loan.

[KRS1]

It appears atleast one enterprising Flip figured out a way to get out of their loan, Flips all across Phuket must be ready to party now.

Story has too many contradictions, "has 500 customers" but only found :

1) receipts of payments from 27 different borrowers

2) another stack of receipts from a further 22 borrowers.

3) lists of names of borrowers and at least 20 loan agreements in the drawer of a desk.

receipts are given to the borrower, not the person giving the loan !...probably meant carbon copies of the receipts.

and finally " no passports of any borrowers were found in the raid."...but actually they found 2 during the setup, and claim passports were held until debt was cleared.

The reporter must be British.

Edited January 7, 2012 by KRS1

[BigJohnnyBKK]

It looks to me that the issue here is he or they didn't have work permts, and they charged too much interest, The question that comes to mind here is, all these guys from India that sell nuts and beans from a basket, that move on to become loan sharks, do they all have work permits? They are a very conspicuous enterprise with their nice motorcycles and turbins so it's probably not illegal. does anyone know the means of getting into this line of work? it looks like easy money.

Any operation like this is organized and therefore protected by sponsors within the BiB Mafia.

Reasons this particular loan shark was arrested out of the hundreds of thousands that operate here in Thailand 99.9% of whom I'm sure are much worse than this guy.

1. he is a foreigner

2. he wasn't paying the right protectors, or not enough

Most likely a farang wouldn't be allowed to operate such a business, because the BiB Mafia knows by now we can't be trusted to keep our mouths shut and just operate the business as it's supposed to be run.

Possible exceptions would be Russians, never heard of genuine Italian/Corsican/Sicilian mobs operating here.

Probably seen as dangerous competition, I'm sure the Russian mobsters in Pattaya are kept on a short leash by their native BiB handlers.

10% a month is on the low end for poor people here, and they don't see anything immoral about it, confiscating the collateral is one thing, it's when extremities start getting chopped off that I see it as actually evil myself.

[lensta]

I never understand why people moan when they decide to borrow at stupid rates, "they decide" they are high risk if no one else will loan to them. Go ahead tell me im disgusting hahahah

I 100% agree, noone forces these people to take out these loans, They know the deal and agree to it. If they don't like the interest rates then they can go somewhere else. I think that the person that reported them just saw a way not to repay the loan.

[BigJohnnyBKK]

It appears atleast one enterprising Flip figured out a way to get out of their loan, Flips all across Phuket must be ready to party now.

BIB = Boys in Brown, not blue.

He still has their passports squirreled away in a safe place, doubt if the powers that be will go to too much trouble to help the guest workers. If he's at all connected the loans will still be due, interest accruing daily, just someone else will have to collect while he's in the klink.

[Derifo]

big win for the borrowers,

Not really. They will still need to borrow, and next time will likely pay more than 10% a month.

That's true. Lots of people do this, and although the interest rates are high, I think they're useful to those who aren't qualified to borrow through legal channels.

[freedom4life]

Tsk tsk...cutting-in on someone's business, namely the banks and other loan sharks..without paying HIS dues to the B.I.B.s

[KarenBravo]

BIB = ?

Thank you...

Boys in Blue aka the police

Errrrr.....no actually. It stands for Boys In Brown.

[Theo007]

In this case BIB should be" boys in brown " , not blue.

[thaiorchidsource]

I am familiar with this rate of interest per month, but to a Thai loan shark. There are two sets of standards obviously. Farang gets the book thrown at him, but Thai is unlikely to face any negatives.

[Tonto21]

BIB = ?

Thank you...

Boys in Blue aka the police

Thailand.........Boys in Brown!

[prakhonchai nick]

The farang obviously used his Filipina partner to round up her native countrymen/women who needed loans. His mistake was not using a Thai person to front the loans.

[sawadeeken]

Really guys - what's the big bloody deal?

He's not interferring with kids, nor is he exploiting poor people as crack-smugglers..... he's not running a taxi mafia, he's not intimidating people, or skimming off the top...... someone walks in and says please can I have 10,000 - he says "yes you can, it will cost you 10% per month until its paid off" ..... expensive, yes..... but there is nothing deceiptful about that.

Its not like he is renting them a motorbike for a few hundred baht a day, then demanding 10,000 baht for a crack head light on its return.

Sure - there are some people absolutely desperate for money, for a seriously ill child or something ..... but for the most part, it is people living beyond their means in some way or another..... poor wages and all that are a greater social issues.... not his fault, nor his doing......

Really - I am at a lost to understand why everyone wants to see this guy nailed to the cross???

But he is just as bad as any of the above 'offenders' AND he is one of 'us' (and he seemingly has big bucks already) and is scalping others - I hate the Thais (and Indians) who do this and I hate some of 'our own' who do it.........

[talk2sam]

I wonder why you keep piling blame on the Guy, Somehow he was helping his Inlaws...

[swisstouristpattaya]

we call this globalization.

If your are not happy with 10 % rate, don't borrow.

What about people working for China and middleman making fortune?oh suddenly this is legal?And what about taksin who stole a fortune?Now tell me!

sent from tapatalk :-)

Edited January 7, 2012 by swisstouristpattaya