Jail for loan shark who kept customers' passports as deposits

Published by Julien Tremblin for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Local Government

A convicted loan shark who used to confiscate his customers' passports as security for the loans has been sentenced to two years in prison.

Hudson Obetoh, 54, of Sutton Coldfield was ordered to pay back the full amount he made through the illegal business to the courts at a hearing in June 2010. This totalled more than £163,000. He was warned that failure to pay would leave him facing a jail sentence.

However having paid back less than £7000, he appeared again at Birmingham Magistrates Court last week and was ordered to serve 726 days.

Mr Obetoh ran ‘Cash Operators’ on Lozells Road in Aston. When officers from the England Illegal Money Lending Team - hosted by Birmingham City Council - searched the business in September 2008, they found loan agreements and payment records along with a passport, computer, camera and MP3 player, all of which belonged to Obetoh’s customers.

A subsequent search of his home found £6,500 in cash as well as more items belonging to his customers including passports, travel documents, computers and jewellery.

Mr Obetoh would confiscate his customers’ passports as security for the loans. He would then charge them £35 to take them out of the bank vault; despite the fact they were just kept in his home. He even refused to return one woman’s passport after she had repaid her loan, as her husband had not yet paid off his £1000 loan.

Mr Obetoh was convicted of charges of deception, acquiring criminal property in 2009 and given a 12-month suspended sentence for the first two offences and a 22 week suspended sentence for the later, along with a 200 hour community service order.

Councillor Neil Eustace, Chair of Birmingham City Council’s Public Protection Committee, said:  “Loan sharks will not be tolerated in Birmingham, as this case exemplifies. We will continue to tackle those who cause fear and misery in our communities and would always encourage people to steer clear of these criminals at all costs.

“We would urge anyone who has fallen prey to a loan shark or knows of any illegal money lending activity which is taking place to contact the England Illegal Money Lending Team in the strictest confidence on 0300 555 2222”

Nationally the Illegal Money Lending Teams have secured over 200 prosecutions for illegal money lending and related activity, leading to 128 years worth of custodial sentences. They have written off almost £40million worth of illegal debt and helped over 18,000 victims.