Cumbria Police Force To Target Loan Sharks

Fri, 04 Jul 2008

Police in Cumbria have joined forces with an elite squad of illegal money lending investigators from Birmingham to crack down on loan sharks operating in the area.

Officers will work closely with Cumbria County Council and the specialist loan shark unit to gather intelligence and offer operational support to target unscrupulous loan sharks operating in the county.

One of the main aims of the government-funded team will be to wipe out illegal debt owed by some of the poorest members of society through detailed surveillance work throughout Cumbria.

Commenting on the campaign, DCI Andy Slattery said: "Loan sharks prey on the most vulnerable members of the community – those who have got into debt and are conned into believing the answers to their problems lie in borrowing money illegally."

"But they can very quickly find their debts spiralling out of control and being engulfed in a world of violence and heartache."

He added: "Illegal money lending is directly linked to other forms of criminality such as drug trafficking and money laundering which are among our top priorities."

The investigation team is believed to have already wiped out over £4 million of illegal debt in the UK, as well as seizing guns and drugs and recovering more than £100,000 worth of counterfeit items.
add to favouritesnewsletterlink to this pagesend to friendpost comments

Link to this page

Copy and Paste the following HTML into your page.

Credit Crunch Savers
HSA Dental Plan
Get covered from £7.70 per month!
Amex Cash Back
Credit Card
Get 5% cash back on purchases with Amex
Virgin Credit Card
0% APR on balance transfers for 16 months
Income Protection Insurance
Get an instant quote with the award winning company