Woman arrested for illegal money lending

A woman has been arrested on suspicion of acting as an illegal "loan shark".

The England Illegal Money Lending Team (IMLT) and West Yorkshire Police executed a warrant in the Thwaites Brow area of Keighley on Tuesday.

The suspect, 31, has been released on bail pending further enquiries and a number of electronic devices were seized.

The IMLT works with the police and Trading Standards services to prosecute loan sharks.

Dave Benbow is head of the unit, which was set up in 2004 and now operates across the country.

He said: "Illegal lenders are often well-known in communities and introduced to borrowers through family or friends.

"They will pretend to be a friend at first but may charge high interest and can become threatening or aggressive when it comes to repayments.

"We will not tolerate illegal lending in England, and we work hard with our partners across the country to tackle this crime."

He urged people who had "any knowledge of loan shark activities" to contact our team in complete confidence".

There are up to 1.08 million people in debt to loan sharks in England, according to figures from the Centre for Social Justice.

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