Snapchat loan shark who threatened borrowers jailed

Mavunga would conduct all his loans on social media platforms, such as Snapchat

A loan shark who paid a social media influencer to promote his illegal money lending operation has been jailed.

Business student Rovin Mavunga, 24, used Snapchat to find customers he would go on to terrorise when they were unable to pay off debts.

Sheffield Crown Court heard he charged almost 100% interest on short-term loans to about 130 people.

Recorder Meghan Rhys said his conduct had been "appalling" and jailed him for 16 months.

Mavunga began his illegal operation in 2018 while studying business at Sheffield Hallam University.

He offered short-term, high-interest loans of between £10 to £500 to borrowers, who contacted him through social media applications such as Snapchat and WhatsApp.

The court heard his victims found out about his service through an unwitting Snapchat influencer. They were not named in court and did not know Mavunga's business was illegitimate.

His records revealed he had loaned 130 people about £120,000 and had been repaid about £140,000. He was still owed a further £100,000.

'Slapped' in the face

Simon Mortimer, prosecuting, said it had been an "organised, sophisticated and profitable illegal business".

Mavunga would send messages with payment reminders, adding interest and arbitrary charges, if borrowers failed to pay on time.

One woman, a single mother-of-two, was slapped after a man approached her in the street demanding she repay money she owed.

She fled to a nearby shop and the police were called, but was so traumatised she eventually moved from the area.

Mavunga visited one victim's neighbourhood and sent an image of a house and car he believed to belong to the man's mother.

The man was then sent messages, from an individual introduced by the defendant, threatening to burn his house down and kill him.

Social media has provided a new channel for loan sharks to operate, and dramatically expanded the physical area they can cover.

People would normally hear about a lender through word of mouth, and the loan shark would probably know the neighbourhood well.

However, in this case Mavunga was able to advertise, conduct all his business and send threats via social media to victims from London to Doncaster.

Although the method of operating has changed, the threat of violence was exactly the same.

He sent photos of victims' homes, talked about their families and shared his location on Snapchat when he was nearby.

When sentencing Mavunga the judge made the point that his victims had nowhere else to turn to get loans and were often borrowing money to buy daily essentials.

With the likes of Wonga, Quickquid and the doorstep lender Provident Financial ending their lending, it is likely more desperate people will turn to loan sharks.

Recorder Rhys said Mavunga had targeted people who often "needed money to meet the basic necessities of life" but were unable to borrow from reputable lenders.

She said Mavunga was an intelligent young man who had "thrown away" a promising future for greed.

Dismissing his claim that the threats made to borrowers were "just a tactic", she said his victims took a different view as their debts "escalated beyond all recognition".

"They took them seriously and were terrified, this was appalling conduct," she said.

She also noted his "astonishing and blatant disregard" for his bail conditions when he continued to operate his illegal business despite his arrest in January 2020.

She said she considered the offending to be so serious only an immediate custodial sentence would suffice and had she been able to would have imposed "a much higher" sentence.

Mavunga, 24, of Union Street, Doncaster, admitted two offences relating to illegal money lending.

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