DEBT TRAP

'Consultants' luring debtors to borrow more to exploit govt bankruptcy avoidance scheme

- David Sun

TikTokers advertising themselves as debt consultants are charging debtors thousands of dollars to exploit a government bankruptcy avoidance scheme.

Checks by The Sunday Times showed that there are at least a dozen such consultants on the social media platform.

One consultant said that for a fee, he can guide debtors through the Debt Repayment Scheme (DRS) to help them secure a discount on their debt.

He said he had helped a client clear a debt of more than $100,000 with a repayment of only one-third of what he owed, or $35,000.

"That's $65,000 savings, no shiok meh? (sic)," the man added.

ST understands such firms charge debtors between $1,000 and $5,000 for their services.

Credit Counselling Singapore (CCS), a non-profit organisation and registered charity, said it has seen a number of debtors falling prey to exploitative debt consultancy firms.

CCS general manager Tan Huey Min said it had a debtor who approached the organisation after he paid a consultancy firm in hopes of getting on the DRS.

The man had debts of more than $150,000, above the threshold for the bankruptcy avoidance scheme.

Ms Tan said that when the debtor was deemed ineligible for the scheme, the debt consultancy firm did nothing to help him.

"When these debtors go to some of these firms, they are told they have to first fork out several thousand for their services.

"They already have no money, where do you expect them to find a few thousand?" she said.

"What some of them have done is unethical, because they call themselves a consultancy firm, but they don't provide comprehensive information even though they claim to be professionals.

"Then you tell people about the DRS to lure them and get them to borrow even more money to pay you, encouraging them to be irresponsible. It is not right," she added.