Gloucester Loan Shark Given Eight Month Jail Term

Wed, 10 Jun 2009

A loan shark who charged desperate customers exorbitant levels of interest on doorstep loans has been jailed, according to media reports.

Ian Jenkins, from Gloucester, was handed an eight-month jail sentence by a judge at Bristol Crown Court, after being caught granting unlicensed loans in May 2008.

The jury heard how the 43-year-old preyed on homeless people in the city, often possessing their personal details such as PIN numbers and benefits cards.

Alan Evans, who led the team of investigators which caught Mr Jenkins in action, said that Mr Jenkins would provide them with "pocket money to support their drug or alcohol needs" and then "keep up to two-thirds of the cash ".

Further evidence of the loan shark’s activities was found in his home, with various notebooks showing that he had lent money to around 55 people.

The investigation team also discovered that one individual had been charged more than eight million per cent interest on a loan of £106.

The news comes a month after the Money Advice Trust predicted that an increasing number of hard-pressed Britons would fall victim to illegal money lenders due to the pressures of the economic recession.
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