Temporarily detain the owner of a savings and credit association that embezzled billions of dong in Nghe An

Poor communal savings and credit association collapses, people's late tears

(Baonghean.vn) - In recent days, hundreds of poor people in Thanh My commune, Thanh Chuong district have been crying their eyes out as the hard-earned money poured into the savings and credit association evaporated right before their eyes.

On April 23, Thanh Chuong District Police (Nghe An) announced that they had prosecuted and temporarily detained Ms. Tran Thi Oanh (48 years old, Thanh My commune) for 4 months to continue investigating the act of "Fraudulent appropriation of property".

Ms. Oanh is the owner of a rotating savings and credit association with hundreds of members, operating for nearly 10 years. However, in August 2017, Ms. Oanh announced that she could no longer pay.

Ms. Oanh's house, which is also a grocery store, has been empty for months after being surrounded by people demanding money. Photo: Tien Hung

“There have been 124 complaints sent to the district police accusing Ms. Oanh of embezzling billions of dong. However, so far we have only clarified 36 complaints with the embezzled amount of more than 2.3 billion dong,” the investigator said, adding that after the temporary detention, the investigation agency will continue to clarify the remaining complaints and call on people to report information.

According to the leaders of Thanh My commune, Ms. Oanh used to be a well-off household. Since 2009, this woman has started to mobilize people in the area to participate in the hui group she owns in many forms. One of those forms is "planting group" - a type of group that Ms. Oanh herself came up with with very high interest rates to easily mobilize money. This is also the type of group that got Ms. Oanh into trouble with the law.

Ms. Tran Thi Oanh at the investigation agency. Photo: Tien Hung.

At first, Ms. Oanh paid the interest to the members in full, which attracted more members to the network. However, in early August 2017, many members suspected that the hui leader had defaulted on his debt when it was her turn to draw the money, but Ms. Oanh gave many reasons to delay the payment time and time again. Fearing that they would lose their money, they surrounded the house.

The assets in Ms. Oanh's house were seized by the people and then handed over to the government. Photo: Tien Hung

The incident peaked on August 10, when hundreds of people gathered at the hui owner’s house to demand money and curse. Thanh Chuong district police had to deploy forces to ensure security and order.

The tension lasted for more than a week, causing chaos in the countryside. Hundreds of people surrounded the house day and night. When questioned by many people, demanding the return of money, at one point Ms. Oanh declared that "the money is gone and will not be returned". The statement of the hui leader made some people angry, throwing stones at the store.

On the evening of August 13, dozens of people broke into Ms. Oanh’s house to collect debts when the authorities were absent. Many of Ms. Oanh’s family’s assets, including motorbikes, washing machines, televisions, safes, tables and chairs, were taken home by the people. In the following days, after being persuaded by the police, the people returned all the assets taken from Ms. Oanh’s house.