‘No one is safe’ as loan sharks widen their search for victims

The economic slump has seen illegal money lenders broaden the net away from the traditional market of the most vulnerable and poorest sections of society.

The head of a national unit launched to tackle illegal money lending admitted that rogue money lenders now pose a threat to all sections of society.

National research has shown the number of households using loan sharks has soared from 165,000 in 2007 to 310,000 last year.

Evidence has also emerged that illegal money lenders are targeting businesses by offering desperate entrepreneurs a chance to secure loans at exorbitant interest rates.

Tony Quigley, head of the England Illegal Money-Lending Team, said: “No one is safe, and it is a problem that can affect every section of society.

“Illegal money lenders have been operating for a long time, and they often get known by word of mouth to avoid detection. But this word of mouth can spread, and people facing desperate times are willing to take desperate measures.”

A new agreement is due to be approved by York Council on Tuesday next week to authorise a specialist team of investigators based in Birmingham to carry out inquiries in the North Yorkshire city.

The Government ordered a review last year of the national squad set up to tackle illegal money-lending and it was announced in December that the unit would be centralised to the West Midlands.

North Yorkshire County Council is among the other local authorities in the region which have already signed up to the new protocol.

The head of York Council’s trading standards department, Colin Rumford, confirmed the new agreement will ensure the specialist investigators can be called in if any evidence of loan sharks emerges locally.

Close links have been developed between the council and the Birmingham-based investigators over the last two years, but the new agreement is vital to ensure the resources remain available in York.

Mr Rumford said: “We have developed a valuable and productive relationship with the team in Birmingham, and it makes sense to have a specialist team to deal with what is a very specialised crime.

“We have already had some success in York in tracing down loan sharks, but I am sure that there are other illegal operations in the city.

“Given the current economic situation, it is a very lucrative area for people to get involved in.

“But victims have traditionally been reticent about coming forward either because they are embarrassed or because they are being intimidated.

“The new agreement will hopefully put us in a position to have a clear mechanism to deal with any loan sharks who are identified in the York area.”

Some loan sharks operating in England are charging interest rates up to a staggering 130,000 per cent and have even forced victims into prostitution to repay debts as well as carrying out acts of extreme physical violence.

The Government review was conducted after a series of units were established across the country to tackle loan sharks.

Mr Quigley stressed that the move to centralise operations would ensure a more streamlined service, and he denied it was part of the Government’s attempts to slash millions of pounds in public sector expenditure.

The unit has proved a major success and the number of investigators has risen to 30 from just five when a pilot project was launched in Birmingham in 2004. Almost £40m of illegal debts has since been written off and more than 190 prosecutions brought.