Tricks of gold shop owners to lure people into depositing money and then defaulting on their debt

Print your own "savings book" to create trust

For many days now, hundreds of people have been gathering in front of the gate of Tam Nham Gold and Silver Enterprise (Cong Thanh Commune, Yen Thanh District) to put pressure on the business owner, demanding that he return the money they deposited here. In response, the owner of this gold shop, Mr. Nguyen Vinh Tam, still challenged him, hanging a banner in front of the store with the content "the amount of money people still owe Tam Nham is 39 billion, while the amount of money people deposited here is only 8.7 billion VND left".

Meanwhile, the local government had to send officials to each household to persuade people not to gather in large numbers in front of gold shops to collect debts, and at the same time advised them to file civil lawsuits. This incident has lasted for many years, significantly affecting the security and order situation in the area.

According to the reporter's investigation, not only Tam Nham Enterprise, in Yen Thanh district, there is also Phuc Nhien Gold and Silver Enterprise (located in Bao Thanh commune) that also used similar tricks to lure people to deposit money, then declared "bankruptcy" at the end of 2016.

Mr. Le Anh Dao (68 years old, hamlet 4, Son Thanh commune), said that he had recently continued to send a petition to the authorities to cancel the decision not to prosecute the case against the owner of this business. Over the years, Mr. Dao has represented many households that lost money, making hundreds of trips to "knock on the doors" of many government agencies, in an effort to request criminal prosecution of the gold shop owner and return the money to the people.

Like many other victims, Mr. Dao has relatives living abroad who regularly send money back to the country through Phuc Nhien Gold and Silver Enterprise. Therefore, the couple who own this gold shop knows which families in the area have a lot of idle money, to entice them to send money to them. To create trust, the owner of this business also printed so-called "savings books" similar to those issued by state credit institutions. The gold shop also offered very high interest rates to make many households withdraw their savings from the bank to send to them.

According to the people, the owner of this gold shop has repeatedly declared that they do business with a seal and tax code licensed by the State, calling on people to deposit money and foreign currency here to be paid like a bank. At first, Phuc Nhien gold shop paid interest very quickly and fairly. Seeing that, households became more confident and rushed to deposit money. In just a short time, this gold shop mobilized 164 households to deposit money, with a total amount of up to about 24 billion VND. Some deposited a few tens of millions, some up to 1.6 billion VND. "Looking at the savings book that looked real, we thought they were licensed to operate like a bank," Mr. Dao said, adding that the entire amount of more than 130 million VND that he deposited in this business did not belong to his family. That was the money that Mr. Dao's brothers and sisters sent from abroad to ask him to build a house for a disabled sister who had no family.

“Because at that time the plan was not to build, and the money was not used for anything, so when Phuc persuaded me to deposit it there,” Mr. Dao added. The gold shop owner is Mr. Tran Ba ​​Phuc and Mrs. Ta Thi Lien, who are relatives with Mr. Dao. The last time Mr. Dao deposited money in this business was in December 2016. However, just a few days later, Mr. Phuc suddenly declared "bankruptcy", unable to pay. Since then, hundreds of households in communes such as Son Thanh, Bao Thanh, Vinh Thanh... have fallen into bankruptcy, many have died in frustration. Meanwhile, the gold shop owner still lives comfortably in a high-rise building in the center of Bao Thanh commune.

Signs of law violation

At the same time, Tam Nham Gold and Silver Enterprise, a few kilometers away, also put up a sign saying “receiving deposits and lending” to raise money from people. The owner of the gold shop, Mr. Nguyen Vinh Tam, also printed “savings books” himself, stamped the enterprise’s seal on them, and distributed them to people who deposited money to create trust.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thu (76 years old, Ly Thanh commune), said that around August 2016, he went to the Tam Nham gold shop to repair his motorbike. At this time, Mr. Nguyen Vinh Tam came to talk and asked about money. Knowing that Mr. Thu was saving money in the bank and had a son who worked abroad and regularly sent money back, Mr. Tam began to persuade Mr. Thu to deposit money in the gold shop. A few days later, Mr. Thu went to withdraw money from the bank to deposit in Mr. Tam's gold shop with a commitment of higher interest rates, and very simple deposit and withdrawal procedures. In the first few months, to create trust, when the interest payment date was near, Mr. Tam often called Mr. Thu in advance to come and receive it, making him very excited, thinking that withdrawing money from the bank was the right decision. However, in November 2016, the owner of the Tam Nham gold shop suddenly declared "bankruptcy", no longer able to pay.

“To create trust, Mr. Tam often showed off his local certificates of merit and said that this business was licensed to mobilize deposits like a bank. Therefore, in a short time, the gold shop mobilized hundreds of people to deposit money, with a total amount of tens of billions of dong,” said another victim.

Discussing these incidents, a representative of the State Bank of Vietnam, Nghe An branch, said that the unit had been aware of the information that two gold shops in Yen Thanh district had been mobilizing deposits from people for a long time. However, through inspection, both gold shops were not licensed to mobilize deposits. “It can be seen that these two gold shops printed and issued books called "savings books" that are very similar to the savings books issued by banks, in order to create trust and deceive people into depositing money here. Although not licensed, it can be said that both gold shops have been operating as a bank for a long time. That is a violation of the Law on Credit Institutions,” said a representative of the State Bank of Vietnam, Nghe An branch.

In addition, according to this person, the gold shop owners also have behaviors and signs of fraud and property appropriation. “According to the gold shop owners, they are "bankrupt" and cannot pay those who have deposited money here because they are also owed money by others and cannot collect it. In my opinion, that is a stubborn argument. It is impossible to make such a bridge relationship, those two things are not related to each other. Gold shop owners who lend money to someone can just collect it, if they cannot collect it, they can sue, but they have received deposits from people, they must be responsible for paying. These cases, if not handled thoroughly, will cause very bad precedents,” this person stated his opinion and at the same time recommended that local authorities regularly establish interdisciplinary teams and strengthen inspections of gold shop activities in the area to prevent similar cases.