Malaysian Siblings Cut Ties With Dad After Paying RM600,000 In Debts, Say He Treated Them Like ATMs

The 31-year-old company director, identified as Lee, said the loan sharks also sent him a screenshot of a fake obituary bearing his name as an intimidation tactic.

The fabricated notice claimed his funeral would take place in three days, adding to the fear caused by the threats against him.

He said his father had repeatedly asked him and his elder sister for money under various pretexts over the past eight years, treating them like "human ATMs" while turning to loan sharks, also known locally as ah longs.

Between 2019 and November last year, the siblings gave their father an estimated RM600,000 without expecting repayment, including money used to settle his debts.

Despite their efforts to help him, Lee said his father had returned to borrowing money from loan sharks, dragging his children into the ordeal again, China Press reported.

Lee, accompanied by MCA Youth deputy national chief Neow Choo Seong, spoke about his family's experience at a press conference on 20 October. Two other groups of victims also shared their respective experiences with loan sharks at the event.

Lee said his father, Lee Chee Wai, 69, had frequently asked him and his elder sister for money using various excuses.

In November 2025, his father owed loan sharks RM35,000. Lee and his sister eventually paid the amount out of their own pockets to settle the debt.

That was when the siblings decided they could no longer continue supporting their father financially.

"My sister and I eventually paid out of our own pockets to clear the debt. It was at that moment that the two of us decided to sever ties with him and drew up a formal agreement," Lee said.

The siblings then signed a written agreement stating that they would take legal action to protect themselves if their father asked them for money again.

Despite agreeing to the terms and signing the document, Lee said his father had once again borrowed money from loan sharks.

On 29 September, Lee and his sister received messages from strangers claiming that their father owed loan sharks approximately RM10,000.

The siblings later lodged three separate police reports over the matter. However, Lee said the loan sharks somehow learned about the reports and started harassing his company just four hours after they were filed.

"To our surprise, just four hours after we lodged the police report, the loan sharks somehow found out and threatened to come harass my company," he said.

As a company director, Lee said he was now being dragged into his father's debts despite having previously helped settle his outstanding payments.

Reiterating that he and his sister had severed all ties with their father, he urged the loan sharks to stop targeting his family and hold the actual borrower responsible for the debt.

"Every debt has its debtor," Lee said, calling on the loan sharks to pursue his father instead of harassing his family.