A 23-year-old Malaysian found himself in deep trouble after falling into debt with ah longs (loan sharks) while trying to jump on the trendy toy market bandwagon with a business venture.
Chen had jumped into the reselling game for collectible Pokémon cards and Labubu dolls, hoping to make quick profits off the viral craze, according to China Press.
For illustration purposes only
He placed a large number of pre-orders for the toys
However, the hype didn’t last long as demand dropped, and Chen was left with piles of unsold stock and reportedly lost around RM10,000.
To cover his losses, he ended up borrowing from 14 different ah longs, with each new loan taken just to pay off the last. What started as RM30,000 in loans quickly ballooned to RM93,000.
Unable to keep up with the endless cycle of borrowing just to stay afloat, he finally came clean to his parents.
For illustration purposes only
His parents managed to pay 12 loan sharks
Chen’s parents managed to pull him out of most of the mess, coughing up RM49,000 to settle with 12 of the loan sharks.
But two of the more aggressive lenders (each of whom had only fronted RM1,000) are now demanding jaw-dropping returns of RM15,000 and RM29,000 respectively.
Completely at his wits’ end, Chen turned to MCA’s Public Service and Complaints Department director, Datuk Seri Chong Sin Chee and held a press conference to share his story.
“I didn’t want my family to worry, so I tried fixing it on my own through social media. In the end, I borrowed nearly RM30,000 from 14 loan sharks, and the debt just kept snowballing,” he said.
Chen has since filed police reports in both Melaka and Kajang and will continue to follow up on the case with the authorities.
