Illegal money lenders 'to be hunted out'...
24 September 2007
The government is to launch a crackdown on the practice of illegal money lending in the UK.
Teams of investigators from the Treasury will team up with Trading Standards officers to hunt down loan sharks after receiving funding totalling £3 million.
Recent figures that showed that more than 165,000 households with financial problems borrow from loan sharks every year.
Often the loan sharks charge high rates of interest on loans, using violence and intimidation to reclaim money from deprived borrowers.
John Hutton, secretary of state for business, enterprise and regulatory reform described illegal money lenders as "criminals who prey on vulnerable and desperate people".
Pilot schemes in Birmingham and Glasgow have proved a success, with Trading Standards officials identifying more than 200 loan sharks since 2004 and closing loan books worth more than £3 million.
Meanwhile the new funding will help to expand existing teams in Birmingham and Glasgow as well as in London, the north-east, east Midlands, south-west, Wales, the north-west and Yorkshire and Humberside.
