Victims of loan sharks report extortion and death threats in debt collection in RS

To escape charges, victims report the need to sell assets, abandon their homes and leave their jobs. The RBS Investigation Group (GDI) located people who took money from criminals. For the police, the schemes involve crimes such as extortion, kidnapping, false imprisonment, torture and criminal association. Penalties can reach 10 years in prison. Pamphlets and electricity bill scam In Canoas, in the Metropolitan Region, the GDI identified pamphlets glued to poles on Rua Curitiba, in the Mathias Velho neighborhood. The ads offer R$3,300 in fast credit, without bureaucracy and without credit consultation. The Civil Police will investigate the case. One detail in the pamphlet caught the attention of investigators: the information that the credit would be debited from a consumption account. For the police, this is a tactic to obtain the real address of the person requesting the loan. When calling the indicated phone number, the attendant asks whether the person has an energy bill in their own name. He then explains that the installments of a loan of up to R$4,000 would be included in the monthly electricity bill, without bank analysis. Delegate Luciane Bertoletti analyzed the images of the pamphlets taken by the GDI. "This is a case of usury advertising. The signs are clear: easy, fast credit, without proof of income and with a private telephone number," he said. The material will be incorporated into investigations. Debt of R$25 thousand turns into R$340 thousand Criminal groups operate on different fronts in Greater Porto Alegre. Some use teledelivery of pamphlets and cronies for propaganda. A businesswoman, who did not want to be identified, borrowed R$25,000 and paid R$14,000 per month in interest for three months, until she paid off the original amount. The charges, however, continued. The loan shark started sending photos of weapons, intimidating audios and threatened to break into the woman's house and take her car. "The following month, he continued charging me, claiming that there was still interest from the period in which I used the money", he reported. The victim continued to pay the required amounts. Bank statements show transfers totaling R$340,000. Daily fines for non-payment reached R$500. The businesswoman reported having developed depression due to the charges. In this case, the Civil Police identified and charged those involved. They were denounced by the Public Ministry (MP) and convicted by the courts of extortion, due to the charging of illegal interest and the systematic use of threats. Delegate Luciane Bertoletti advises people in a similar situation to look for official financial institutions. "If you receive threats, go to the police station, register a report and do not pay anything more than what was initially informed", he stated. VIDEOS: Everything about RS