Let's start with the number. Police say the syndicate charged interest of up to 3,700 per cent.

Read that again. Three thousand, seven hundred. That is a phone number.

For comparison, one-month HIBOR, the rate banks lend to each other, was 2.75% on 9 October, according to our money panel. The banks are at the bottom of the staircase. This lot was on the roof.

Police ran an undercover operation for six months and arrested 127 people. That is a proper operation. Somebody sat through a lot of meetings.

Now the part nobody puts in the press release. Nobody takes a 3,700 per cent loan because they like maths. They take it because the bank said no, the family said no, and the rent is due on Friday.

So who is the customer? The person the bank would not look at. The loan shark does not check your paperwork. He checks that you are scared enough.

Bust one syndicate and the need for cash does not go anywhere. The people who borrowed still have their problems. They just have fewer people willing to lend to them at 3,700.

If you are the kind of person who might be tempted, talk to a legitimate lender first, even a boring one with a form. The form is annoying. The alternative is much worse.

Expect another syndicate to fill the gap. That is how a market works, even an ugly one.