Nghe An: Heartbreaking case of officials luring people into multi-level marketing schemes.

(Baonghean.vn) - One of the most heartbreaking aspects of the corrupt multi-level marketing scheme in Thanh Chuong is that officials in positions of power are the very ones who "lure" people into this scheme. Even more painful, these officials profit from the hard-earned money that the people have accumulated over the years.

Encouraging people to join multi-level marketing schemes.

A multi-level marketing scheme, under the name Vietnam Consumer Alliance Joint Stock Company, began infiltrating Thanh Son commune in 2013. The company's tactic was to exploit reputable officials working at the commune's People's Committee to entice and persuade people to join. According to Mr. Lo Trung Thong, Chairman of the Thanh Son Commune People's Committee, the first person to join the scheme was Mr. Vi Trong Thuy, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee. Following him was Mr. Vi Thanh Vien, Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Council.

Mr. Lo Trung Thong - Chairman of the People's Committee of Thanh Son commune (on the right) is very upset about the rampant illegal multi-level marketing schemes in the commune.

After joining the company, these two officials began recruiting local residents. According to a preliminary list compiled by the commune police, Mr. Thuy recruited 14 people and Mr. Vien recruited 26 people to purchase goods from the Vietnam Consumer Alliance Joint Stock Company. Not only ordinary citizens, but also many officials, including the Chairwoman of the Women's Association, the Chairwoman of the Farmers' Association, the Chairwoman of the Red Cross, population officials, land administration officials, agricultural officials, irrigation officials, and the Deputy Secretary of the commune's Youth Union, fell into the multi-level marketing trap.

“Mr. Thuy and Mr. Vien encouraged commune officials to participate, saying that for every four people, they would buy four packages of goods. After three years, they would receive 400 million VND as a reward, but they would only keep 100 million VND, and the remaining 300 million VND would be distributed among everyone. I found out about this and warned them, while also educating people not to participate. However, due to greed, some commune officials still followed these people's advice, and only now have they realized the true nature of the multi-level marketing scheme,” Mr. Thong said.

To date, the only people who have received the so-called customer appreciation money from Vietnam Consumer Alliance Joint Stock Company are officials of Thanh Son Commune People's Committee, with an initial estimated amount of approximately 250 million VND. Most of the people participating in the Vietnam Consumer Alliance multi-level marketing scheme have not received any benefits.

The house of Mr. Vi Trong Thuy, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Thanh Son commune, has remained closed ever since the multi-level marketing scheme was exposed.

For example, Mr. Vi Van Tham, an office staff member of the commune's People's Committee, received nearly 100 million VND as a token of appreciation from the company after only 5 months of participating and recruiting 7 others. Mr. Tham admitted that this appreciation money was only given to a select few; those who joined later would not receive it.

Or consider the case of Mr. Luong Hoang Canh, a commune judicial officer who was also a victim of a multi-level marketing scheme. Mr. Canh said that they (Vietnam Consumer Alliance Joint Stock Company) claimed the product was good for health and that after 3 years he would receive 300 million VND. He went home to get money and then went to the company in Vinh to buy a package worth 8.45 million VND. To this day, he doesn't know if they scammed him or not. Losing money is painful, but he just considers it like being robbed.

"The people who were already poor became even poorer."

Although the Vietnam Consumer Alliance Joint Stock Company had entered Thanh Son commune since 2013, few people knew about it at the time. It wasn't until June 2014 that the Party Committee and the local government of Thanh Son commune became aware of it, but they were surprised to find that so many people had already joined. Immediately afterward, the issue was raised in meetings of the commune's Party Committee, and officials involved in the multi-level marketing scheme were reprimanded and held accountable.

The poverty rate in Thanh Son commune in 2015 was 84.3%. People who were already poor are now even poorer because they are involved in multi-level marketing schemes.

Mr. Lo Van Nguyen, Deputy Secretary of the Thanh Son Commune Party Committee, said: "Before the congress, the Commune Party Committee had advised the comrades involved in multi-level marketing to stop recruiting people because the people are already very poor and facing difficulties, but they did not listen. Now, the people are even poorer."

Many residents in Thanh Son commune have now learned the true nature of multi-level marketing and are very upset because they were lured and enticed into participating in it by officials in the commune. While the people gain nothing but the worry of losing money, these three individuals profit hundreds of millions of dong as a "thank you" from the money collected from the people by the company.

Therefore, during the consultative meeting for the election of representatives to the Thanh Son Commune People's Council for the 2016-2020 term, when the people saw that three officials, Mr. Thuy, Mr. Vien, and Mr. Tham, were on the list of candidates, they were very upset and indignant. Due to public outrage, these three officials were persuaded to withdraw from the list of candidates for the People's Council.

In accordance with the regulations of the Law on the Election of National Assembly and People's Council Representatives, at the second consultative meeting, the Fatherland Front of Thanh Son commune urged these three officials to withdraw from the list of candidates for the People's Council. However, only Mr. Vi Van Tham requested to withdraw. Mr. Thuy and Mr. Vien still "requested" to remain. Only at the third consultative meeting, after the regulations were clearly explained, did Mr. Thuy and Mr. Vien agree to submit applications to withdraw from the list of candidates for the Thanh Son commune People's Council for the 2016-2021 term.

The entire commune only has 182 hectares of arable land; many households without land have to work as laborers or borrow money to go abroad for work.

Not only the people but also the officials of Thanh Son commune expressed their outrage when discussing the multi-level marketing problem. The Chairman of the Fatherland Front of Thanh Son commune, Mr. Luong Thai Tam, shared, "We are also very saddened because three officials holding positions in the commune, trusted by the people, ultimately engaged in such activities. We hope the press will get involved to raise awareness among the people and help prevent this so that the people can suffer less."

Pham Bang - Nhat Lan