The collapse of a savings scheme in a poor village brings belated tears to the people.

(Baonghean.vn) - In recent days, hundreds of poor people in Thanh My commune, Thanh Chuong district, have been weeping uncontrollably as their hard-earned money, invested in informal lending schemes, has vanished right before their eyes.

Nghe An: Hundreds of people in panic due to collapsed savings scheme.

Visiting Thanh My commune in Thanh Chuong district amidst the scorching dry season of Nghe An province, one would find that when the topic of failed informal lending schemes came up, dozens of locals rushed forward to share stories of families whose schemes had collapsed, and the heartbreaking hardships they faced as they painstakingly saved every penny to contribute to these schemes.

The house of loan shark Tran Thi Oanh has been locked for several days. Photo: Ngo Quyen

Mr. Vo Van At, 55 years old, residing in Hamlet 5, Thanh My Commune, Thanh Chuong District, is a disabled veteran (category 1/4), blind in both eyes for nearly ten years. His life depends on the monthly government allowance.

He said, "I also went without food and drink, saving up 5 million dong from my salary to contribute to the rotating savings scheme. A few years ago, my wife unfortunately passed away suddenly, and I received over 100 million dong from social insurance, but that money has now disappeared with the scheme. I still have my elderly mother, over 80 years old, and life for my family is more difficult than ever."

Ms. Nguyen Thi Lai, from Hamlet 7, Thanh My Commune, had just returned from the hospital after hearing the news that the head of the informal lending group had declared bankruptcy. Meeting us, she said tearfully: "My family was already classified as poor, and every month I had to work as a domestic helper for a family in the neighboring commune. My monthly salary of over 1 million dong was invested in the lending group, and so far it's nearly 20 million dong. Each month I received over 100,000 dong in interest. With that money, I planned to save up to renovate my dilapidated house. But when I heard that Ms. Oanh had gone bankrupt, I fainted repeatedly, and my relatives had to take me to the emergency room for resuscitation all night."

The people of Thanh My commune are still reeling from the collapse of the informal lending scheme. Photo: Nguyen Quynh

Collecting scraps and recyclable materials to sell and then "investing" in informal lending schemes, the family of Mr. Tran Van Chinh, from Hamlet 5, Thanh My Commune, also faced similar difficulties. He said: "Our family is classified as a poor household. The money my wife saved from collecting scrap and the money I earned as a construction worker went into informal lending schemes. Thinking about losing tens of millions of dong makes me unable to eat."

The bustling atmosphere of Thanh My commune market is gone. Many vendors have stopped selling for the past few days because they gave all their capital to Mrs. Oanh. Many shop owners are scrambling to find debtors and try to borrow money to resume business and pay off their debts. Many remaining vendors are weeping, unwilling to sell because the money they saved for their children's school supplies or for home repairs has all been stolen by the loan shark.

Ms. Hoa, a grocery store owner at the market, sadly recounted: "The locals here saw that she was kind, soft-spoken, and from a well-off family, so they trusted her and pooled their money to give her, hoping to earn a little profit. Who would have thought that today the head of the savings group would declare bankruptcy?"

Hoàn cảnh khó khăn của ông Nguyễn Văn Chính bên căn nhà xuống câp. Ảnh: Nguyễn Quỳnh

Được biết, bà Trần Thị Oanh, xóm 5 xã Thanh Mỹ, huyện Thanh Chương trước đây vốn là nông dân chân lấm tay bùn, sau đó lại đi buôn rau, củ quả cho đến xay xát lúa gạo. Được một thời gian, với số vốn nho nhỏ, bà Oanh bắt đầu chuyển qua kinh doanh các mặt hàng tạp hóa, rồi làm chủ hụi, tính đến nay cũng đã gần 10 năm. Bằng lời lẽ ngon ngọt, cùng với sự “ăn nên làm ra” của bà Oanh, rất nhiều người dân nghèo khó ở đây đã đưa tiền đóng vào hụi, mong có được phần lời lãi. Nào ngờ bà Oanh tuyên bố vỡ hụi.

Trao đổi với chúng tôi, ông Võ Văn Tịnh, công an xã Thanh Mỹ, huyện Thanh Chương cho biết: Sau khi chủ nợ tuyên bố vỡ hụi, hàng chục người dân đã kéo đến lấy đồ đạc trong nhà bà Trần Thị Oanh. Tuy nhiên, được sự tuyên truyền vận động của chính quyền và ban công an xã, người dân đã đem trả toàn bộ số vật dụng ban đầu. Điều đáng tiếc hơn, 2 năm trước, trên địa bàn xã Thanh Mỹ cũng đã từng xảy ra tình trạng vỡ hụi.

Ông Phạm Xuân Lực - Chủ tịch UBND xã Thanh Mỹ, cho biết: xã Thanh Mỹ có tới 259 hộ nghèo, chiếm 13,2% số hộ toàn xã. Hiện đã có hơn 100 người đến trụ sở UBND xã Thanh Mỹ khai báo, với số tiền gần 8 tỷ đồng.

Riêng với bà Trần Thị Oanh đang bị quản thúc tại địa phương, cơ quan điều tra đang thu thập thông tin, sớm hoàn tất hồ sơ, chứng minh hành vi vi phạm pháp luật của bà rần Thị Oanh./.

Nguyễn Quỳnh - Trịnh Thắng