Nghe An: Hundreds of people panic because of broken savings and credit association

(Baonghean.vn)- Hundreds of poor people in Thanh Chuong district who contributed money to lend to the hui owner to get interest were suddenly confused when the hui owner declared bankruptcy and had no money to pay.

These days, in hamlet 5, Thanh My commune (Thanh Chuong district), people are still talking excitedly when Mrs. Tran Thi Oanh, resident of hamlet 5, Thanh My commune, declared that the hui was broken and had no money to pay back to the people.

Tens and hundreds of millions of dong that people have saved their entire lives have been swept away by the "hurricane" right before their eyes.

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Tuyet (63 years old) in Hamlet 7, Thanh My Commune is a particularly difficult case. Sitting dejectedly in her 20m2 house, she choked up, “40 million VND is a huge amount for my family. My son is 36 years old this year but has Down syndrome. There are only two of us, mother and son, so our situation is very difficult. We planned to save that money at the end of the year to renovate the house, in case of illness, but now it is all gone...”.

The house of the hui owner Tran Thi Oanh was locked for many days. Photo: Ngo Quyen.

Mr. Vo Van At (born in 1962), Thanh My commune, is also a victim of the hui collapse. He said: “Every month I receive a salary of 7 million VND, and I also put 5 million VND into the hui, plus the money my children give me, so far, it has added up to more than 300 million VND into the hui. The money I saved for many years to enjoy a comfortable old age is now gone.”

The hui owner mentioned by the people here is Mrs. Tran Thi Oanh, resident of Hamlet 5, Thanh My Commune. Because of her familiarity with the traders, Mrs. Oanh mobilized the ward from the traders in the market to contribute for her and pay interest. Gradually, seeing the high interest, many other people also joined the hui. This place has been around for nearly ten years, people trust it so much that all their saved assets are poured into it to get interest, most of them are verbal agreements or very sketchy documents.

Until early August 2017, Ms. Oanh declared bankruptcy, unable to pay, causing hundreds of people to panic. According to the people, compared to the amount of 8 billion VND and 100 people writing a complaint, the reality is much larger.

Ms. Tuyet's difficult circumstances have now become even more difficult because of the association. Photo: Ngo Quyen.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Pham Xuan Luc - Chairman of Thanh My Commune People's Committee confirmed: The hui collapse in the commune has happened in the past few days, the incident is making hundreds of people here and neighboring communes such as Hanh Lam, Thanh Lien extremely shocked. Due to the psychology of people being greedy for profit with high interest rates, dozens of poor households in the area also participated in the ward and hui. Currently, the hui owner, Ms. Tran Thi Oanh, is under house arrest.

Mr. Vo Van Tinh - Chief of Thanh My Commune Police said that currently more than 100 people have come forward to report and declare the amount of money that was stolen, which is nearly 8 billion VND. However, the amount is certainly much larger, and people still do not dare to come forward to declare.

The case file has been transferred to Thanh Chuong District Police for investigation and clarification.

Ngo Quyen