It was revealed that army captain, Kheng Kok Keong agreed to harass other debtors in return for having his own debts reduced. (Photo: Yahoo!).

An army captain who also became a loanshark runner pleaded guilty on Monday to four charges of harassment for vandalising the homes of alleged debtors.

Seventeen other charges against 34-year-old Kheng Kok Keong will be taken into consideration when he is sentenced on Thursday.

According to local media reports, the army captain had gambled away at the Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) casino and resorted to borrowing money from an illegal moneylender.

Investigations revealed that he had owed money to a loanshark known only as Ah Seng and agreed to harass other debtors in return for having his debt reduced by S$2,000 every month.

Kheng scribbled the victim’s name and identity card number on the wall and scrawled “O$P$” – meaning “owe money, pay money”. He also squeezed super glue into the padlock on the gate of the flat in Commonwealth Crescent.

However, the logistics officer then returned to the flat an hour later after he realised he had left his cigarettes there. The 43-year-old occupant of the flat guessed Kheng was the culprit and caught him before handing him to the police.

They found three tins of paint in his possession, as well as a bottle of thinner and two cellphones – tools typically used by loanshark runners.

The court was not told how much he owed but his lawyer, Mr G. Dinagaran, said Kheng had built up losses after visiting the casino at RWS. After continuous harassment by Ah Seng’s runners, the army captain agreed to be a runner too.

For Kheng, both his family and 14-year career in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) are in ruins.

Since he was remanded in October, Ah Seng’s men had harassed his family by scribbling on walls, throwing paint and using super glue to destroy keyholes and padlocks – the very things he used to do.

This drove his Taiwanese wife to walk out of the marriage and return to Taiwan with their children, aged five and seven, said Mr Dinagaran.

Kheng, who earned S$5,000 a month, will also be dismissed from the army.

Pleading for a light sentence, his lawyer said that Kheng had never been in trouble with the law before and had served the army honorably before this incident. He had also been commended but the documents to prove this were unavailable.

The lawyer said this was because Kheng’s parents were afraid to collect them from his flat in Yishun Avenue 6, which was being practically besieged by Ah Seng’s runners.

Those convicted of harassment can be jailed for up to five years and fined between S$5,000 and S$50,000 on each charged. If the property is damaged, they will be given three to six strokes of the cane.

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