Loan shark who charged 8,000% is sent to jail

A Porsche-driving loan shark who intimidated and blackmailed his victims, charging up to 8,000% in interest, was jailed yesterday for nearly four years.

Mark Washington Johnson of Hall Green, Birmingham, known to his victims as "Arnie", made illegal on-the-spot loans of £100 and upwards, mostly to single mothers and struggling pensioners.

The loans had to be repaid within weeks at double the amount borrowed, with huge penalties added if a customer missed a payment.

In one case a man borrowed £500 from Johnson, lost his job and missed repayments. He was told he had to repay £20,000.

Birmingham crown court was told how Johnson, 38, would threaten violence on those unable to repay, warning that he would send round his "cronies". He also grabbed the benefit books of disability and social security claimants who failed to keep up with his astronomical interest rates.

One of those left "petrified" by him was recovering from a stroke while another was told: "I will send my cronies round if you miss any payments."

The amount Johnson amassed from his criminal activity is unclear, but some estimates have put the figure at about £800,000. Steps will be taken to confiscate his assets.

Johnson's loan shark racket earned him a luxurious lifestyle. Despite claiming to be on benefits, he spent between £30,000 and £40,000 on a high-performance BMW 330 convertible and a Porsche Cayenne. He also attempted to buy a half-million-pound house with a mortgage application that the court was told was "worthy of a Booker nomination" and stated his annual income as £132,000.

Jailing him for three years and nine months, Recorder Andrew Tidbury told Johnson he had profited at the expense of some of the most unfortunate and needy members of society. "These were people who had no one else who would lend them money. In that way, it was suggested you were doing a service to them. The reality was to the contrary. You were lending money at exorbitant rates of interest with terms of repayment they would find it impossible to police and comply with."

The case is the first prosecution of its kind following a crackdown by a government-funded team of loan shark hunters. A further 35 suspected loan sharks are being investigated and more prosecutions are expected soon.

Consumer minister Gerry Sutcliffe said: "This should send out a clear message that we will take action against people who think they are above the law and can threaten and intimidate. Loan sharks prey on the most vulnerable people in our communities and we are determined to stop them operating and making money out of misery."

Johnson was caught after a tip-off to a Birmingham city council team investigating illegal money lending, a pilot project set up with support from the DTI. He was arrested after a dawn raid by trading standards officers and imprisoned after admitting charges of blackmail, illegal money lending and a string of other offences.

Few of his victims were willing to testify against him, such was the fear spread by Johnson and his "cronies".

Speaking outside court, Christopher Neville, of Birmingham trading standards, said: "The interest rates he was charging were astronomical - they would be up to 8,000% APR." Sunit Sandhu, defending Johnson, said clients accepted loans "with their eyes wide open".