The chairman of the Chau Binh commune Farmers' Association absconded with billions of dong.
(Baonghean)Taking advantage of her position as Chairwoman of the Farmers' Association of Chau Binh commune, Lo Thi Hoa (residing in Do 3 village, Chau Binh commune, Quy Chau district) borrowed billions of dong from many households and then suddenly absconded, leaving many families in dire straits.
With a distraught expression on her face, Mrs. Lo Thi Dau, residing in Do 3 village, said: “Because I trusted my nephew, who was also an official of the Farmers' Association in the commune, I didn't hesitate when he asked to borrow money. That day, July 16th, he came and said he needed to borrow 50 million dong to exchange his bank loan for a few days. Since I had money from selling acacia wood, I gave it all to him. Who would have thought that a few days later he would run away?” Choking back tears, she added that since learning of Hoa's disappearance, she has been waiting every night for him to return, but only sees the door closed.
Like Mrs. Dau, Mr. Lang Van Truong from Do 3 village also mistakenly lent Hoa 200 million dong, now facing a desperate situation and marital problems. Mr. Truong said: "I saved up 200 million dong from harvesting acacia trees for several years, and I hadn't even paid the workers yet. Now I mistakenly believed Hoa, who said he only needed the money for two days to complete the land exchange procedures and would pay it back. Who would have thought he'd just leave? Now I don't even have the money to pay the workers, and I don't know where I'll get the money for the children's school fees. My plan to repair the roof before the rainy season is also ruined…"
It has been learned that, to date, dozens of families have reported the incident to the local authorities. Mr. Lang Thanh Hoai, the head of the commune's police, stated: Ms. Lo Thi Hong (Binh 1 village, Chau Binh commune) reported lending Hoa 500 million VND; Ms. Lo Thi Nga (Binh 3 village, Chau Binh commune) lent 20 million VND; Ms. Vi Thi Huong (Binh 3 village, Chau Binh commune) lent 15 million VND; Ms. Kim Thi Tu (Binh 3 village, Chau Binh commune) lent 300 million VND; Ms. Kim Thi Nam (Binh 3 village, Chau Binh commune) lent 400 million VND; Mr. Nguyen Van Quyen (Binh 2 village, Chau Binh commune) lent 460 million VND…
When borrowing money, Hoa always promised to repay both the principal and interest on time, with high interest rates ranging from 3,000 to 7,000 VND per 1 million VND per day. However, even before the repayment deadline, the debtors would disappear. Remarkably, some families who lent Hoa money didn't even receive a receipt. Only when the truth came out did people in the village realize with astonishment that Hoa's victims weren't just a few, but dozens. In some families, both husband and wife had lent Hoa money.
The private residence of Lo Thi Hoa and her husband is located in Do 3 village, Chau Binh commune (Quy Chau district).
Speaking to us, Mr. Kim Van Duyen, Chairman of the Chau Binh Commune People's Committee, said: "Lo Thi Hoa (born in 1982) was the Chairwoman of the Commune Farmers' Association for the 2011-2016 term, and her husband, Kim Van Phuong (born in 1981), is the deputy head of Do 2 hamlet. Before leaving the area, neither of them showed any signs of being missing. On July 27th, after hearing reports from residents that Hoa and her husband had fled due to debt, we went to Hoa's house in Do 3 hamlet and her fertilizer shop in Binh 2 hamlet, but they were nowhere to be found, and we couldn't contact them by phone either."
Given the complexity of the situation, we reported to the district leaders and the district police that debt collection was occurring, but the exact amount was yet to be determined. The largest number of affected households were in Binh 2 village, mainly those involved in the dried bamboo shoot trade and the harvesting of acacia and sugarcane, who had been saving up for a long time. On August 2nd, the Party Committee and the People's Committee of the commune also held a meeting to review and check if any households had borrowed money from the bank and then lent it to Hoa. At the same time, it was agreed to temporarily assign Hoa's duties to Comrade Lo Van Phu (Vice Chairman of the Farmers' Association).
Regarding the police, Colonel Thai Doan Hieu, Head of the Quy Chau District Police, stated: "After receiving information about the incident, we issued a notice for anyone involved to report to the police. Currently, nearly 20 people, mainly women from Chau Binh commune, have come forward to report the incident. According to the reports, the incident occurred in December 2012, but the most significant amount of money has been given to Hoa in the last month. According to the reports, the total amount of money given to Hoa currently amounts to 7.3 billion VND. In addition to stabilizing the situation in the area, we are continuing to gather evidence from those who lent money to Hoa, and are coordinating with local authorities and influential individuals to find clues to the suspect's whereabouts. Based on this, we will clarify the nature of the case and take appropriate legal action."
Colonel Thai Doan Hieu - Chief of Police of Quy Chau District:"In addition to lending money to Lo Thi Hoa, according to reports, residents of Chau Binh commune have also lent Lang Thi Huong (from Binh 2 village, Chau Binh commune) 1.7 billion VND, and she has also absconded. The police are currently investigating and verifying this."
Mr. Nguyen Khac Ky - Director of the Agricultural and Rural Development Bank, Quy Chau Branch“Chau Binh is a strong economic development area in Quy Chau district, based on income from sugarcane, acacia, etc., but the amount of money deposited in banks by the people is not much. Not to mention that there are cases where people withdraw money from the bank to lend it out at high interest rates, even though we have warned that the higher the interest rate, the greater the risk. However, in light of the above incident, the bank will review whether households that have borrowed money from the bank in the past have lent money to Hoa and Huong. If they have lent money, do they have a repayment plan? Currently, Lo Thi Hoa and Lang Thi Huong each still owe the bank 50 million VND.”
Text and photos: Dang Nguyen
