ABSTRACT
Problems arising from money lending have vexed mankind from its earliest history. However, loan-sharking, the charging of unconscionably high and onerous rates of interest in loans of money, as an organized criminal enterprise, is a fairly development. The Commission’s investigation and hearing, conducted in 1964, revealed that loan-sharking, has become a major and most lucrative operation of the criminal underworld. Moreover, loan-sharking is a principal avenue by which crime syndicates have invaded legitimate businesses. The importance of Commission’s investigation and report is not only to alert the public to the ever-growing danger of loan-sharking, but to help bring it within effective control of the law. In the fall of 1963, the Commission, deeply concerned about the situation, authorized a full investigation into all aspects of the loan-shark racket. Loan-sharking, once considered of small consequence, was recognized by underworld leaders as having a number of highly attractive features.
