| ALMOST every day, he would wake up to find that loan sharks had done something - with paint, bicycle lock, or marker pen - outside his flat.  | | Black paint spills from a plastic bag left in a flowerpot. | He ended up making seven police reports in 10 days. Each about a separate action of loan sharks targeting his flat. He pasted a copy of a police report on the wall next to his flat. But even that didn't stop the loan sharks. Mr Ali (not his real name) bought the four-room flat at Toa Payoh Lorong 8 early this year, and everything was fine for the first nine months after he moved in. Then, within a few days last month, he got a flood of unwelcome attention from loan sharks. USED ADDRESS Mr Ali claims he does not owe the loan sharks any money. He said he has spoken to eight of them. They are all after the same person, someone who used to be a tenant in the unit years ago. That person apparently used the address to borrow money recently. And the loan sharks began targeting the flat. This is what Mr Ali has had to put up with: On 13 Nov, he found a plastic bag dangling on a potted plant outside his flat. It was dripping black paint on to the floor. There was a message asking for payment scribbled on the wall, along with a handphone number. On 14 Nov, he opened his front door at 7am to find a bicycle lock on the grille door.  | | 'I am shocked that people can do this. That a former tenant, someone we have never met before, can cause such problems for us.' - Mrs Ali, whose husband pasted an appeal and a copy of the police report outside their flat (above). | On 16 Nov, there was 'owe $ pay $' scribbled on the walls, along with a handphone number and Mr Ali's unit number, on the first, second and third storeys of the block. On 17 Nov, there was a paper stuck to his front door. It said 'owe $ pay $' and gave the name of the former tenant. On 19 Nov, there was more scribbling on the walls, this time on the fourth, fifth and sixth storeys. On 22 Nov, there were two sets of messages on the walls, apparently done by different people. The first set was on the fourth and fifth storeys and the second on the fifth and sixth. FEAR FOR SAFETY Mr Ali, who is in his 40s, made separate police reports about these last two. He does not want his identity revealed because he fears he might upset the loan sharks. He said he and his wife now fear for the safety of their three school-going children. 'Since the first time it occurred, we have had sleepless nights,' he said. Of the bicycle lock incident, he added: 'What if there is an emergency or fire? How can we escape? My family and I will be trapped inside. 'We don't know how much the previous tenant owes and how many loan sharks are after him.' Mr Ali bought the resale flat in January and moved in a month later. He said the price was reasonable and the location was good. He is a private sector worker and the sole breadwinner in his family. Police confirmed that Mr Ali had lodged seven reports and said investigations are ongoing. Mr Ali said that although the harassment stopped for a while, it resumed on 3 Dec, when he found another set of messages scribbled outside his unit asking him to pay up. Desperate to set the record straight, Mr Ali called the handphone number given, to explain that he was the new owner and had nothing to do with the person who had borrowed the money. But he said the loan shark refused to believe him and threatened to splash paint and throw offal at his door if he did not pay up. The earlier messages were clearly from different loan sharks and gave different handphone numbers. FORMER TENANT Mr Ali called eight of them in all, and found out that the former tenant owed each of them roughly $1,000. He does not know if there are others. When Mr Ali contacted the flat's previous owner, he confirmed that the man had been a tenant there for a few months in 2002. But the man was not known to have borrowed money till October this year. And there was apparently no indication of loan sharks causing problems at the flat till last month. Mr Ali says he now checks the walls all over the block every day because he fears there may be new marks left by the loan sharks. Whenever he finds something, he calls the town council, which then sends someone to clean it up. Mr Ali said he has even approached his MP about his problem. Added Mr Ali's wife: 'I am shocked that people can do this. That a former tenant, someone we have never met, can cause such problems for us.' | 
