A 48-year-old woman who operated as a loan shark in West London has been given a suspended jail sentence and told to complete 150 hours of unpaid work.
Saowaluk Fernando, from Hillingdon, was found guilty after a trial of two counts of illegal money lending and two of money laundering between 2012 and 2019.
She appeared before Isleworth Crown Court for sentencing on Friday, June 28, where she was told by the judge, Recorder Peter Krepski, that this was a prolonged and persistent course of conduct. He sentenced her to 24 months in custody, suspended for 18 months as well as the unpaid work and made her subject to an electronically monitored curfew for four months.
Fernando was arrested in December 2019 after an investigation by the England Illegal Money Lending Team (IMLT), working in partnership with the Metropolitan Police and Hillingdon Trading Standards. The prosecution was brought by the IMLT.
Mr Ian Rees-Phillips, prosecuting on behalf of the IMLT, said Fernando handed out unlawful loans and then used the interest made from them to fund more loans to others.
A Proceeds of Crime confiscation order is being considered and judgement will be made later in July.
Speaking after the hearing, head of the IMLT, Tony Quigley said: “We are pleased with the outcome of this trial and the sentence handed out today. We hope it sends a message to other illegal lenders that they cannot get away with this behaviour.
“People in communities may think someone offering loans in this way is doing them a favour, but the truth is that they are exploiting the vulnerable and acting illegally.
“We would like to thank the witnesses in this case who had to attend court and relive their experiences at the hands of this lender.
“We realise it can be extremely difficult for people to speak about their borrowing – they may be ashamed or afraid of the person they have borrowed from. We want to reassure people in this position that we are here to help, and they can speak to a member of our team in confidence at any time to get the specialist help and support they need.”
You can access support online at www.stoploansharks.co.uk.
