A man who made a Berkshire resident’s life a misery after threatening him over illegal loan repayments has been jailed for 16 months. 

Rovin Mavunga, 24, of Doncaster, was a loan shark who paid an influencer to advertise his illicit loans on Snapchat. 

When Berkshire resident Ahmed (not his real name) needed money, he contacted Mavunga on the social media platform. 

Ahmed received loans of £1,281 from Mavunga and was told to repay more than £3,500 in total. 

The Berkshire resident had trouble remaking these payments, however, and Mavunag started threatening him. 

He did this by: 

  • Texting him telling him he ‘didn’t want to hear any excuses’ about payments
  • Told him he ‘was running out of time’
  • Posted his location on Snapchat near to Ahmed’s house in order to threaten him
  • A man who Mavunga introduced to Ahmed told the Berkshire resident he would burn his house down.

Mavunga was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court to 16 months behind bars. 

At the sentencing, the court heard how Mavunga charged a 100 per cent interest rate and had more than 130 customers. 

Tony Quigley, Head of the England Illegal Money Lending Team, said: “Mavunga preyed on financially vulnerable victims.

“We would urge anyone affected by illegal money lending to get in touch on our 24-hour helpline or contact us via live chat on our website.

“Our advice to residents in need of financial support would be to turn to a credit union rather than a loan shark who could take advantage and charge extortionate interest rates.”