The owner of the broken hui counter-sued the people for appropriating the money.

(Baonghean.vn) - Ms. Oanh's son filed a complaint with the police, claiming that people had stolen more than 100 million VND from the family safe.

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

» Nghe An: Hundreds of people panic because of broken savings and credit association

There are signs of fraud

On September 9, Colonel Luong The Loc - Head of Thanh Chuong District Police, said that the unit is completing a number of documents to transfer to Nghe An Provincial Police to continue investigating the hui collapse that occurred in Thanh My commune.

“Initially, the unit determined that there were signs of fraud and could initiate prosecution. However, because the amount of money involved was so large, it fell under the jurisdiction of the provincial level,” said Colonel Loc.

A police source said that Thanh Chuong District Police had summoned the hui owner, Ms. Tran Thi Oanh (37 years old, Thanh My Commune), for questioning over the past several days. Ms. Oanh stated that the hui money of more than ten billion VND had been used by her to “treat her son’s illness and do charity work” at temples.

Mrs. Oanh's house, which is also her grocery store, has been closed for many days. Photo: Tien Hung.

Meanwhile, there have been more than 180 complaints against Ms. Oanh for embezzling nearly 10 billion VND. However, according to Mr. Vo Van Tinh - Head of Thanh My Commune Police, the number of victims and the actual amount of money is even larger. Some people, out of shame or because they are working as officials, did not report the case.

“We estimate that more than 200 people were harmed with a total of nearly 12 billion VND,” said Mr. Tinh, adding that most of the victims were from Thanh My commune, with a few from Hanh Lam and Thanh Lien communes. Many of the victims were civil servants, teachers, and even officers working at the nearby Prison No. 6. The Thanh My Commune Police Chief also denied information from the people that this broken hui chain was worth more than 20 billion VND.

War invalid Vo Van At (55 years old) with a disability rate of 97% is also one of Ms. Oanh's victims with a sum of nearly 300 million VND. Photo: Tien Hung

For more than 10 days now, many offices at the Thanh My Commune People's Committee have been used by the investigation agency to take statements from victims. People are constantly coming and going in and out of the commune headquarters. "There are a lot of whistleblowers, but the police can only take statements from about 6 cases each day. Currently, there are about 60 people," said Mr. Tinh.

Village chaos

Previously, in early August, many members of the hui led by Ms. Oanh suspected that the hui was broken. Although it was their turn to pay the hui, Ms. Oanh gave many reasons to delay the payment time and time again. Fearing that they would lose their money, many people surrounded the house, which was also the grocery store of Ms. Oanh's family in the center of Thanh My commune.

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.

All of the assets that the people seized from Ms. Oanh's house have now been recovered. Photo: Tien Hung

“The tension lasted for more than a week. Hundreds of people surrounded this house day and night. Fortunately, the people remained calm, and the authorities were on duty 24/7, so there was no fighting,” said Mr. Pham Xuan Luc - Chairman of Thanh My Commune People's Committee. He added that when many people questioned and demanded the money back, 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. The police force at the scene promptly prevented the risk of a fight.

However, on the evening of August 13, a forest fire broke out in Thanh My commune. “At that time, I went on the commune loudspeaker to announce and mobilize all cadres and people to fight the fire. Knowing that the authorities had gone to put out the fire and were no longer on duty at Ms. Oanh’s house, dozens of people rushed into the house to collect the debt. At that time, we had to divide our forces in half to run to her house,” said the Chief of Thanh My Commune Police. When the authorities arrived, many of Ms. Oanh’s family’s assets, including motorbikes, washing machines, televisions, safes, tables and chairs, had been taken home by the people.

In the following days, after being persuaded by the police, the people returned all the property taken from Ms. Oanh’s house. This property is currently sealed at the reception room of Thanh My commune headquarters.

"We have to keep this property and not return it to the family because we need to clarify whether it was purchased with the money from the violation or not," said Colonel Luong The Loc.

Safes seized by people for debt are displayed for sale. Photo: Tien Hung

However, the Chief of Thanh Chuong District Police denied this. “There was no money in the assets that the people seized for debt. All of them have been recovered,” Colonel Loc affirmed. In fact, the four safes that the people seized for debt were not the safes that Ms. Oanh’s family used. These were safes displayed in a grocery store for sale and had never been used. After dozens of people broke into her house to seize her assets for debt, Ms. Oanh’s son filed a complaint with the police, denouncing the act of property appropriation. In the complaint, this person stated that “among the seized assets was a safe, in which there was 105 million VND.”

According to the locals, her family used to be one of the well-off households in the area. She used to trade at the market and was also in charge of importing a lot of food for Prison No. 6. This woman has mobilized people to play the hui and received deposits with high interest rates from people for more than 10 years. Up to now, all members of the ward have paid in full. There has been no case of "running away from the ward". Therefore, the locals believe that the amount of more than ten billion has been dispersed by her.

After receiving the complaint, the authorities issued a decision to prohibit Ms. Oanh from leaving the area. However, she later applied for permission to seek medical treatment and was approved. Concerned about security issues, Ms. Oanh's family members have also gone into "refuge". A few days ago, on the occasion of the 15th day of the 7th lunar month, people set up an "ambush" to force Ms. Oanh to pay her debt.

"When they saw a woman with her face covered coming in and opening the door, people immediately rushed in but it turned out to be the daughter-in-law," said Ms. Le Thi Hong (32 years old), one of the people who Ms. Oanh owes money to.

The incident is still under investigation.

Tien Hung