Pawn shop owner arrested for operating loan sharking line with 360%/year interest rate

On February 25, the Investigation Police Agency of Binh Thuan Province announced that it had issued a decisionprosecute, temporarily detained Nguyen Ngo Thanh Toan (43 years old, residing in Phan Thiet City) to continue investigating the act of "Lending high interest rates in civil transactions".

Previously, detectives from the Criminal Police Department of Binh Thuan Province discovered that in Phan Thiet City and neighboring districts, a group of people were lending money at high interest rates, often threatening, cursing, beating, and throwing paint... with the aim of forcing borrowers to pay.

After a period of verification, detectives identified Nguyen Ngo Thanh Toan, owner of the pawn shop "Toan Phuc Loc", as the ringleader, operating a loan sharking ring with more than 10 subjects.

Under the guise of a pawn shop business, Toan recruited many juniors with criminal records to find customers to borrow money, collect daily interest, and operate mainly in Phan Thiet City, Ham Thuan Bac and Ham Thuan Nam districts from 2022 to present.

The method of the subjects is to create Facebook accounts to advertise loans, targeting small traders and manual workers to lend money at an interest rate of 30%/month (ie 360%/year) 18 times higher than the highest interest rate according to regulations. The loan form is simple, no loan contract is made, only taking pictures and keeping the borrower's ID card.

When borrowers are unable to repay their debts, the subjects continuously call, text, curse, threaten, and post pictures on social media groups. If borrowers still do not pay, they will be splashed with paint, have their belongings smashed, and be beaten.

During the initial investigation, the police determined that Toan and his accomplices had lent money to hundreds of people, illegally profiting billions of dong.

The case is under further investigation and processing.