Man sees red over paint on his cars

He was shocked when he got to the carpark yesterday morning and saw that two of his cars had been splashed with bright red paint.

The car rental company owner, who wanted to be known only as Mr Long, 22, said he was walking towards his car when he saw the damage.

His own car and one of his three rental cars had been vandalised at his HDB block's carpark at Tampines Avenue 7.

The bonnet and windscreen were covered in red paint with a note left under the front wiper.

On it was a name, a unit number and O$P$ (which is short for Owe Money, Pay Money).

But it was not his name or his unit number. Mr Long said: "I told myself to stay calm."

He immediately called the police to make a report and then called The New Paper hotline.

Mr Long, who only set up his rental company in March, sent both cars to the workshop yesterday.

He said: "The longer I take to clean up the cars, the more clients I will have to push away and more money will be lost."

On seeing the note, the TNP team visited the sixth floor of the block, looking for the man named in the note.

Neighbours said the flat had also been given the red paint treatment last Friday.

At the unit mentioned in the note, faint red stains on the gate and floor were the most noticeable signs of the recent vandalism.

The front door had been painted with a fresh coat of white to hide the damage.

REPORTED

A woman in the unit said: "It has already been reported to the police, and we have been told that it is a scam.

"We do not owe anyone money and if we were to just pay up, it would be a waste of our money.

"I do not wish to antagonise anyone, and I have been advised to avoid speaking to the public about this," she said.

The incident has frightened the residents on the floor, but they are confident of sticking together.

Said a neighbour, who did not wish to be named:"The entire floor is worried, but we must stand together and help each other."

Police said they received calls over both incidents.

There has also in-car camera footage of the incident.

It has been established that it was a case of unlicensed money lending harassment, they added.

Investigations are ongoing.

If found guilty, first-time offenders who are acting on behalf of an unlicensed moneylender, committing or attempting to commit any acts of harassment can be jailed up to five years, fined between $5,000 and $50,000, and caned between three and six strokes.

mgovin@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on June 24, 2016.
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