The owner of a savings and credit association in Nghe An 'disappeared' with his money, leaving hundreds of families in turmoil and discord.

For many months now, Mr. Tran Van Thao (56 years old, Tan Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district) has been wandering everywhere to find the ward owner, and at the same time filed a complaint against this person for appropriating property with a total amount of more than 2.4 billion VND. However, the woman whom his family still considers a relative has been "missing" to this day, while the police agency said that the incident was just a civil dispute, with no signs of crime.

The person Mr. Thao and many other ward members are looking for is Mrs. Le Thi Hoa (54 years old, from Tien Loc commune, Hau Loc, Thanh Hoa). Mrs. Hoa's family came from Thanh Hoa to Tan Thanh market to work as blacksmiths 25 years ago, then built a house in front of the market gate, selling many other items. "My family is also in the market area, so my wife and Mrs. Hoa are very close, consider each other as sisters, and often go to the temple together," Mr. Thao said.

According to Mr. Thao, since the end of 2017, Ms. Hoa invited him and his wife to join the ward headed by Ms. Hoa. Because of her trust, his wife joined many of this woman's ward lines. However, before she could collect the money, the ward head "disappeared". Specifically, at the end of 2017, Thao and his wife started to join the ward with 10 million VND/3 months. After that, they continued to join other ward lines with 5 million VND/month and 10 million VND/month. Notably, just within a few months before quietly leaving the locality, Ms. Hoa borrowed 8 times from Mr. Thao's family with a total amount of nearly 2 billion VND with the reason of needing capital to do business and expand the kiosk.

“By the end of 2022, Ms. Hoa showed unusual signs. We contacted her many times to demand money, but she kept delaying it. On December 3, 2022, Ms. Hoa cut off contact and has been missing ever since,” Mr. Thao added. At this time, Mr. Thao was shocked to discover that hundreds of other people were in a similar situation. Tan Thanh commune was almost shocked by the news that Ms. Hoa had run away with the money. The amount is estimated to be more than 100 billion VND, through various forms of borrowing and collecting money from the ward.

Mrs. Hoa left the area, and her husband denied any involvement with his wife’s money. In the 3-story house in front of the house, all valuable assets had been moved somewhere before. Fearing that Mrs. Hoa’s husband had also “disappeared”, many people in Tan Thanh commune had to sleep together in front of the house for many days to keep watch. However, only a few weeks later, the husband also quietly followed his wife and left the area without anyone knowing.

Family discord

In the same situation as Mr. Thao, Ms. Chu Thi Tinh (44 years old, resident of Tan Duc hamlet, Tan Thanh commune), said that for many months, her whole family has been "sitting on fire". In the complaint, Ms. Tinh said that since the beginning of 2022, by taking money from the ward, borrowing from the ward and borrowing from individuals, the amount of money she transferred to Le Thi Hoa was nearly 1 billion VND. "Ms. Hoa made an appointment to pay but suddenly left her residence. That amount of money is our entire fortune," Ms. Tinh sobbed.

Among those who filed a complaint, Mr. Tran Van Hoa (44 years old, Tan Thanh commune) was the one who lost the largest amount of money. Mr. Hoa said that Mrs. Hoa said she needed to raise a large amount of money for business, and when she made a profit, she would share it with the people. Because of trust, everyone was willing to lend Mrs. Hoa, many people borrowed money and raised money to give to Mrs. Hoa. Now Mrs. Hoa has been away from the locality for many months and cannot be contacted, the lenders are extremely confused and worried. The total amount of money Mr. Hoa lent Mrs. Hoa is 7 billion VND. Over the past several months, Mr. Hoa and the people have repeatedly visited Mrs. Hoa's hometown in Thanh Hoa but have not been able to find her.

Mr. Pham Van Chinh - Chairman of Tan Thanh Commune People's Committee said that Ms. Le Thi Hoa was accused of appropriating money through 3 forms: being the ward head and then receiving money from ward members; borrowing large sums of money with the promise of high interest rates from the people. In addition, before leaving the locality, Ms. Hoa also participated in many wards owned by other people.

“She joined someone else’s ward and then bid very high to get the ward first. After getting the ward, she left the locality and did not fulfill her obligation to close the ward anymore, so the ward owners had to declare the ward bankrupt, thus causing a chain of bankruptcies,” Mr. Chinh said, adding that not only in Tan Thanh, but also in neighboring communes, people lost money because of Ms. Hoa. After Ms. Hoa’s family left the locality and could not be contacted, the Chairman of the People’s Committee of Tan Thanh commune requested the authorities to suspend the transaction and freeze the only remaining asset of this family in Tan Thanh commune, which is the 3-storey house right in front of the market gate.

“Up to now, only the person who submitted the application to me has lost 20 billion VND, in reality there are many others. It is estimated that there are over 100 billion VND because there are many people who have lost but have not dared to make it public, because they hid it from their husbands and children while playing the ward or lending to Ms. Hoa. The incident has created a crisis among the people. Because the amount of money lost is so large, it is the assets they have saved their whole lives, so many families are in discord and conflict,” Mr. Chinh added.

After receiving the petition from the people, the Chairman of the People's Committee of Tan Thanh commune directly met with the leaders of Yen Thanh district police to report and request investigation and handling. However, Yen Thanh district police later responded that this incident was a civil dispute, with no signs of crime.

Similarly, in Hop Thanh commune (Yen Thanh district), hundreds of households are also in trouble because of the bankruptcy of the hui. After receiving money from the ward members, the ward owner suddenly announced that he would stop operating and refused to continue paying. The bankruptcy of the ward in this commune also coincided with the incident in Tan Thanh commune, both around the end of 2022. To date, 60 people have filed a complaint accusing the ward owner of appropriating nearly 10 billion VND. However, there are still many people who do not dare to publicly denounce, just because they are afraid that their husbands and children will find out.

“The total amount of money I lost was 1.4 billion VND. That was the money my children sent home from working abroad. Now I still don’t know how to talk to them,” an elderly woman who asked to remain anonymous told reporters. Similarly, there are many cases of people who lost money in very difficult circumstances. Many people saved money for medical treatment, and while waiting, they took the opportunity to send money to the ward chief, while others saved money to build a house…

Mr. Hoa Manh Linh - Party Secretary, Chairman of Hop Thanh Commune People's Committee said that the incident had seriously affected the security and order situation in the area. Many angry people often came to the ward chief's house to gather and demand money. There were scuffles. "We just fined a resident 3 million VND because he could not control himself and threw eggs at the ward chief. We understand the loss of the people but unfortunately we still have to fine him," said Mr. Linh.