Woman prosecuted for lending money at 'exorbitant' interest rates of up to 216%

On November 9, information from the Investigation Police Agency of Nam Dan District Police said that the unit had issued a decision to prosecute the case and prosecute Nguyen Thi Thuy (born in 1969), residing in Mai Hac De block, Nam Dan town, Nam Dan district (Nghe An) for the act of“Lending at high interest rates in civil transactions".

Previously, through the work of monitoring and grasping the situation, Nam Dan District Police discovered that in the area there was a subject specializing in loan sharking (or commonly known as "black credit") named Nguyen Thi Thuy. Thuy worked as a freelancer and had many complicated social relationships. Thuy always showed herself to be a rich person, so people who needed to borrow money came to her.

Subject Nguyen Thi Thuy. Photo:Vu Thanh

Taking advantage of the psychology of borrowers who were in dire need of money, Thuy lent money at "exorbitant" interest rates of up to 216% (equivalent to 6,000 VND/1 million/day). Borrowers had to pay interest on a date agreed upon by both parties every month. If borrowers did not pay interest on time, Thuy would call to urge, curse, threaten... Thuy only lent money to acquaintances; the agreement was tacit and not in writing, and the location of the loan was not fixed.

While the Nam Dan District Police were in the process of collecting documents and evidence of Nguyen Thi Thuy's loan sharking behavior, Thuy came to the police station to surrender and admit her crime. Accordingly, on May 6, 2019, because she was in dire need of money, Ms. Ha Thi M. (born in 1977), residing in Nam Dan town, Nam Dan district, borrowed 10 million VND from Thuy. Thuy agreed to lend Ms. M. the above amount but with an interest rate of 6,000 VND/1 million VND/day (equivalent to 1 month Ms. M. had to pay Thuy 1,800,000 VND in interest).

On June 26, 2020, Ms. M. came to Thuy's house to borrow another 10 million VND. Thuy agreed and calculated the same interest rate as the previous time and agreed to pay the interest on the 26th (solar calendar) of each month. Thus, on the 6th and 26th (solar calendar) of each month, Ms. M. will have to pay Nguyen Thi Thuy 3.6 million VND in interest.

From June 6, 2019 to January 26, 2020, Ms. M. paid Thuy 8 months of interest with the amount of 27 million VND. By February 26, 2020, Ms. M. had not yet paid Thuy the interest of 3.6 million VND for the above 2 loans, so Ms. M. borrowed an additional 1.4 million VND from Thuy, making 5 million VND, and then added that amount to the principal. The total amount that Ms. M. borrowed from Thuy was 25 million VND with the monthly interest payment of up to 4.5 million VND.

Based on the investigation results, Nam Dan District Police clarified that the amount of money Nguyen Thi Thuy lent Ms. M. was 25 million VND, with illegal profits of over 30 million VND.

Currently, the Investigation Police Agency of Nam Dan District Police is continuing to consolidate files and documents to handle related subjects according to the provisions of law.