The_King Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 SINGAPORE — A former IT analyst programmer who was in cahoots with a maid to provide unlicensed loans to 18 other maids was jailed two-and-a-half years and fined $270,000 on Thursday (30 January). David Cyrine Mercado, a 30-year-old Filipina, who was then working at Maybank, had created a database with spreadsheets to keep track of the borrowers’ loans and the interest, which was charged at 15 per cent. Under the scheme, Mercado split the profit with compatriot Valino Marianne Pasco, a 42-year-old domestic helper, with whom she shared a room. Pasco was sentenced on 4 December last year to two years and three months’ jail and fined $270,000 for her offences. Mercado pleaded guilty to nine charges out of 28 charges under the Moneylenders Act for providing illegal loans to 18 maids for almost three years until 17 September last year, when she was arrested. According to her charge sheets, she provided loans of between $500 and $2,500 each to her borrowers, who earned monthly salaries of between $600 and $700. In late 2016, Pasco’s friends asked if she knew anyone who could extend loans to them. Pasco roped in Mercado, informing that her friends were willing to pay between 20 and 25 per cent interest on loans. Mercado agreed to provide loans with a monthly interest rate of 15 per cent. Her role would be to provide the capital sum and keep track of the loans, while Pasco liaised with the borrowers. To keep records, Mercado created two databases and issued paper slips to Pasco to facilitate collections from borrowers. By the time she was arrested, Mercado had issued $88,607.50 worth of ongoing loans, with a projected interest of $36,854.25. Mercado earned almost $73,000 while Valino earned more than $36,000 from ongoing and past loans. With the money she earned, Mercado used it as capital for new loans. When she was arrested, Mercado had only a balance of $3,682.21. Of this sum, $2,500 was recovered from her bedroom. Deputy Public Prosecutor Kang Jia Hui sought 30 months’ jail and a fine of $360,000 for Mercado. “The victims are vulnerable with little recourse to legal avenues to loans, and the exorbitant interest rates means that they were exploited,” said DPP Kang. Mercado’s lawyer, Ng Kwong Loong, said his client’s culpability should be lower than Pasco, who had planned the scheme. “Computer programming is her forte, hence she took it upon herself to maintain the spreadsheets and database. This is not an aggravating factor, it is commonsensical conduct…(to) keep track of where the money is,” said the lawyer. For unlicensed moneylending, Mercado could have been jailed up to four years and fined between $30,000 and $300,000 on each charge. https://sg.news.yahoo.com/ex-it-programmer-took-part-in-exorbitant-loan-scheme-targeting-18-maids-123320212.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homelander Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 Wah lau, maid already earn so little. Still target them. Cek ark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huat Zai Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 Programmer don't know how to encrypt your sensitive data, truly foreign talent. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManOfTheHour Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 Really putang ina mo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meng.huat Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 13 hours ago, The_King said: “The victims are vulnerable with little recourse to legal avenues to loans, and the exorbitant interest rates means that they were exploited,” said DPP Kang. they should go catch the credit card banks.... 15 per cent is low already... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meng.huat Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 (edited) 13 hours ago, The_King said: A former IT analyst programmer .... David Cyrine Mercado, a 30-year-old Filipina, who was then working at Maybank, Singapore no such talent to be an IT analyst programmer in Maybank? We need to hire a female cockroach to do this? Really or not? Edited January 31, 2020 by meng.huat 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffee_O Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 2 hours ago, meng.huat said: Singapore no such talent to be an IT analyst programmer in Maybank? We need to hire a female cockroach to do this? Really or not? Have to see the HR dept is foreign trash from where. maybe come from the same roach village Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaur4man Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 learning programming naoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meng.huat Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 56 minutes ago, Coffee_O said: Have to see the HR dept is foreign trash from where. maybe come from the same roach village i also guess the HR from the same too dirty cockroach nest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now