Council collaboration leads to three year prison sentence for loan shark

A 41-year-old man has been sentenced to three years in prison for blackmail after a joint investigation by the England Illegal Money Lending Team, the Metropolitan Police and a London borough.

Stephen Basstoe, 41, was convicted following a six-day trial at Basildon Crown Court. The defendant was also given a concurrent 15-month custodial sentence for illegal money lending.

According to Havering Council, Basstoe ran the business for three years “threatening borrowers and forcing them to pay back far and above what they borrowed and could afford. No paperwork was ever given in respect of the illegal loans.“

The council said: “A typical interest payment would be £150 per month, per £1000 borrowed until the whole amount borrowed could be repaid in one lump sum. If borrowers fell behind on payments, late charges were added at £100 each day, meaning they fell deeper into a spiral of debt. Sometimes this was increased to £500 per day.”

In January this year Havering became the first London borough to join in an initiative with the England Illegal Money Lending Team which allows money extorted by loan sharks and then recovered through prosecutions to be given to community projects.

Commenting on the Basstoe case, Cllr Geoff Starns, Cabinet Member for Community Safety at Havering, said: “It is so important that this loan shark has been caught and taken off the streets of Havering. We don’t want any of our residents falling victim to these illegal lenders."

Neasa MacErlean