WHAT IS LOAN SHARKS CRIME?

In Canada, it is classified as a crime when the interest rate (including penalties and fees) exceeds 60% per year. According to some, the crime was introduced during the 1970s due to a widely-held and overblown fear of the mob.

WHAT REALLY IS LOAN SHARKS CRIME?

Issues with the study of loan-sharking start by defining the business. In the end, pawnshops in major cities usually charge 20 percent per month or more, which is far more than the limit set by law. However, the police who visit them only look for stolen items and rarely inquire about the prices. The loan-sharking phenomenon is perceived by law enforcement (as different from in the eyes of law enforcement) as not an actual problem but as a matter of concern when perpetrated by a specific kind of person within a specific context (i.e., the idea that it's an important source of revenue for "organized crime"). This misinterpretation of actors and acts is typical of how we deal with criminals who profit from their actions.

FACTORS OF LOAN SHARKS CRIME

Two factors differentiate loan-sharking from normal finance. One of them is the incredibly high rates of interest. This would make it fit into the commercial category as it is a legal transaction (i.e., the lending of money) that is delivered through illegal methods that involve exchanges of a market type; however, in "unfair" terms, because the trading terms are distorted by the asymmetries of power and this results in distribution of existing (rather than the creation in the form of additional) earnings.

However, the other feature is the distinct nature of the collateral - in absolute, that is, the borrower's person, as the common theory suggests. A business that is believed to be marked by violence and intimidation could seem similar to extortion. It could be considered an illegal predatory act that falls in the gray area that lies between business legitimate and illegal activity that is more common in commercial crimes.

Suppose it is the only exception; customers generally sign voluntary contracts with loan sharks with a complete understanding of the contract's terms and implications. In that case, it could be classified as a market-based offense. This would involve willing trading participants of a product or service violating laws that limit the conditions. Only a thorough investigation can answer the issue.

According to the popular opinion that the evidence is limited to a few outrageous mob tales, in the 1930s, criminals who became rich during Prohibition used usurious loans to infiltrate and eventually take over legitimate businesses in need of cash due to the depression-induced credit shortage. This story has been the foundation for many subsequent discussions about the issue of loansharking in the USA and worldwide. In the 1970s, there was a lot of public, media and even police attention, particularly in Quebec; however, there was also attention across Canada and elsewhere on the phenomenon, even though evidence suggests that most loansharking was connected to illegal gambling. Even in the mid-1980s in the 1980s, the mid-1980s, USA Presidential Commission on Organized Crime declared that loansharking was the second-highest source of illicit earnings, the primary one being racketeering. But by the end year in each country, the use of drugs has completely replaced illegal gambling and loan-sharking as the main problem. As a result, the issue of loan-sharking is largely, but not completely, gone. A few police officers who were interviewed recently claimed that there is no term for "loan-sharking. On the other hand, an experienced police officer who was a frequent victim of the offense throughout his career believes the issue persists. In a way, both are correct.

HISTORIC PERCEPTION OF LOAN SHARKS CRIME

The conventional perception was that the lending business was structured hierarchically. The system was conceived by a mob boss who decided the terms, mediated disputes, controlled the use of force, and even taxed profits. Sometimes the mob boss would contribute most or all of the capital and would lend to the mob's members and associates. (In the majority of instances, it is believed that people who held lower positions in the pecking order of mob members could borrow money from the boss not because they required the cash but rather because their debts helped establish the patron-client relationship.) Members or associates of the group would lend money to retailers who are loan sharks, most of whom are independent of those in the "family." The retail loan shark could use an additional intermediary, which could use the term "steerer" or "finder," such as a cab driver or a doorman at a nightclub bartender. For an amount, seek out customers. This allowed the "banker" at the top to maintain various layers of insulating between himself and street-based action.

There was probably some truth to the myth at one time in certain locations, including New York City. However, several institutional developments have been impacted in the past 2 or 3 decades. A majority of countries have loosened their interest rate regulations to allow financial institutions to offer higher rates, thus taking a portion of customers of the loan sharks. In addition, the rest of the business seems to have been made more democratic. Maybe in certain cases, criminals with a career linked to "organizations" can still be employed in the business, but there's no reason. They could, in turn, continue to employ muscles to ensure that accounts are up-to-date. However, they do not "control" the business, and likely never have. Alongside the democratization of the entrepreneurial persona has come a broadening of sources of money and kinds of customers.

LOAN-SHARKING

The term "loansharking" (also called usury) is the act of lending money at an interest rate that is higher than the legal limit. Profits earned from organized criminal organizations through other criminal activities, such as the smuggling of migrants and drug trafficking (see module 3), are utilized to earn even more cash by offering these profits to customers at high prices, i.e., rates higher than the rate of interest on loans typically determined by the law.

In certain cases, the profits of legitimate businesses can be employed to fund loan-sharking. Small-scale entrepreneurs, for example, could be in the position of not having a choice but to find credit from illegal sources to sustain their business. Illicit profits could be used to make additional illicit cash and, consequently, support the expansion of criminal organizations (Marinaro 2017, Soudijn as well as Zhang 2013,). The loan sharking industry also has a connection to money laundering as it is a method to transfer illicit profits away from the source of their origin, making them hard to track.

19TH-CENTURY SALARY LOAN LENDERS AND LOAN SHARKS CRIME

In the latter 19th century in the US, the legal low-interest rates rendered small loans unprofitable, and society saw small-time lending as unresponsible. Therefore, banks and other financial institutions stayed away from lending to small-time businesses. However, numerous small lenders offered loans with lucrative but high-interest rates. They advertised them as legitimate and ran their business from offices. They only sought clients with stable and reputable work, regular income, and a good reputation to safeguard. This meant that they were less likely to move out of the area when they had paid off their debt and more likely to be able to provide a valid justification to borrow money. Criminals, gamblers, and other unreliable, disreputable sorts were not allowed. They required the borrower to fill out and sign legitimate agreements. While these agreements were not legally binding, they were proof of the loan, which the lender could use to intimidate the defaulter.

LINKS TO MAFIA

The roots of this are in "salary buying", 1920-criminalization

Even though the reform law was designed to frighten loan sharks out of existence, however, this predatory lender thrived and developed. After high-rate payday loans were banned, some bootleg sellers changed the name of their business to "salary buying". They claimed they weren't lending money but buying the future salary at a discounted price. The practice of loan sharks grew throughout the 1920s and through the 1930s until a new version of the Uniform Small Loan Law closed the loophole that salaried buyers could have been able to slip. Loan sharks who bought salaries continued to be active in a few southern states following World War II because the usury rate was such that private finance firms could not operate in the state.

POST-CRIMINALIZATION AND LOAN SHARKS CRIME

Organized crime started to penetrate the business of cash advances in the 1930s, following which high-rate lending was made illegal by law enforcement agencies under the Uniform Small Loan Law. The first stories of mob loansharking were reported within New York City in 1935, and for 15 years, the underworld lending was believed to be limited to the city of New York. There's no record for syndicate "juice" operations in Chicago for instance, before the 1950s.

In the beginning, underground loansharking was a tiny business that served the same population serviced by payday buyers and lenders. People who sought out loan sharks could not obtain credit from licensed firms due to their earnings being too small or they were thought to be low risk. The companies operating within the usury limit rejected about 50% of applicants. They also generally offered bigger loans to married males with steady jobs and incomes.

NON-MAFIA LOAN SHARKS

The criminal gangs have never had the sole right to loans made on the black market. Many lenders operating in vest pockets were not under the control of organized crime and charged high-interest rates on cash advances. These credit networks that were not licensed seldom came under the scrutiny of the authorities but thrived in communities that were not served through licensed lending institutions. Even after the rise of loans to payday lenders in the United States, unlicensed loan sharks still operate in immigrant-friendly enclaves and low-income communities. They provide loans to those working in the informal industry or thought too risky by check-cashing creditors. Some even beat delinquents and others take possession of assets. The rates range from 10 to 20% per week, similar to mob loan sharks in times gone by.

NON-STANDARD LENDING IN THE UNITED STATES

Within the United States, some lenders are licensed to assist those who aren't eligible for conventional loans from mainstream sources. These lenders, which are smaller and non-standard, generally operate in cash, while mainstream lenders tend to operate electronically and cannot serve those who do not have bank accounts. Sub-prime loans, "non-standard consumer credit" and payday loans are commonly utilized in conjunction with this kind of finance for consumers. The popularity of these kinds of services has made illegal criminal loan sharks rarer; however, these lenders are also accused of acting in a shady manner. For instance, payday loan businesses have been criticized for charging excessive "service charges" for their services for cashing the case of a "payday advance", effectively an unintentional (no more than a couple of weeks) loan that can be as high as 3 percent of the principal amount. In claiming that they charge fees for providing “services" such as the "service" of cashing a pay check, instead of simply charging interest for a shorter-term loan, regulations that strictly regulate the cost of money lending can be evaded.

PAYDAY LOAN SHARKS

The payday advance businesses that are licensed that provide loans with high interest by securing the post-dated check are commonly referred to as "loan sharks" by critics because of the high rates that deceive customers, prevent criminal lending and brutal collections practices. Today's payday loan is similar to the first twentieth-century pay loan item that earned where the "shark" epithet was originally used; however, payday loans are now legal in a few states.

A 2001 study of short-term loan rates charged to Chicago Outfit organized crime syndicate and payday lenders in California found that based on the time the payday loan was repaid by the borrower (generally between 1 and 14 days), the rate of interest of a payday loan can be considerably greater than the interest rate for a similar loan provided by the crime syndicate. However, the brutal methods of collection used by the organized crime syndicate can result in a desirable rate of unpaid loans. The absence of taxation further lowers the cost of lending in this instance.