GEORGE TOWN, Oct 1— A woman who claimed she was coerced into becoming a mistress by an unlicensed moneylending syndicate in Penang was found safe by the police yesterday.

Penang Police Chief Datuk Hamzah Ahmad said that a team from the Criminal Investigation Department located the woman, who made her claims in a podcast on July 26, at around 10.50pm at a residence in the Seberang Perai Utara district.

He added that investigations revealed that the woman’s claims of being forced to work without pay in a ‘red house’ were false and she admitted to taking loans from various companies and said she was threatened, along with her mother, for failing to repay her debts.

The case is being investigated under Section 506 of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 after a police report was filed around 3pm yesterday concerning an 18-minute video shared on TikTok by the account @m.ikhwan_amin_007.

The video featured a telephone interview with the 26-year-old victim, who alleged that her father’s RM20,000 debt to loan sharks had led to her exploitation and she claimed that her father had used her mother and other family members as guarantors for the loan, prompting her to seek assistance through the podcast. — Bernama