KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 898 illegal moneylenders or 'Ah Long' were arrested in 734 operations under 'Op Vulture' from January to August this year, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Shamsul Anuar Nasarah said 196 of them have been charged in court.

He said the focus of Op Vulture was to comprehensively crack down on syndicate members who are involved in illegal money lending activities such as debt collection as well as distribution of leaflets, posters, cards or banners promoting the activities.

The operation is also to stop people from giving or lending their bank cards and accounts to other individuals for illegal purposes, he said when replying to a question from Datuk Che Mohamad Zulkifly Jusoh (PN-Besut).

Meanwhile, from January 2014 to August 2023, a total of 43,824 complaints were received by the Bukit Aman Integrity and Standards Compliance Department (JIPS) public complaints branch and 19,648 disciplinary investigation papers were opened for various offences.

"A total of 18,448 disciplinary investigation papers or 93.89 per cent have been completed while 1,200 or 6.11 per cent are still under investigation," he said when replying to a question from Dr Halimah Ali (PN-Kapar).

-- BERNAMA