Hundreds of households in Nghe An are miserable because of the black credit collapse.

Black credit worth tens of billions of dong collapsed in Nghe An

(Baonghean.vn) - Although not allowed to mobilize capital, a private enterprise in Yen Thanh still issued savings books, received money from hundreds of people and then declared "bankruptcy".

Ms. Hanh (residing in Hamlet 4, Son Thanh Commune) told that she and Mr. Tran Van Phuc (Hamlet 10A, Bao Thanh Commune) were long-time friends. Before moving to Bao Thanh to do gold and silver business, Mr. Phuc lived in Son Thanh since childhood, near Ms. Hanh's house. "I just trusted my friends, I didn't expect them to turn against me like this," Ms. Hanh said, her face showing clear resentment.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hanh. Photo: TH

Mrs. Hanh has a younger sister of her husband who has lived in Germany for many years. Every time she saves some money, she sends it back to her brother's family to keep for her.

The money transfer was through Phuc Nhien Gold and Silver Private Enterprise, whose director is Mr. Tran Van Phuc. “Every time she transferred foreign currency, I went there to get it, so Mr. Phuc and his wife knew about our family situation,” Ms. Hanh said.

Knowing that Mrs. Hanh’s family had a lot of idle money, Mr. Phuc and his wife persuaded their friend to bring money to deposit. “Mr. Phuc said that depositing money here is like depositing money in a bank, it is a place of friends, and I saw that many people also deposit money, so I put all my money in there,” Mrs. Hanh said. Like hundreds of other households, after each deposit, Mrs. Hanh was given a “savings book” similar to the one issued by the bank. It also had the company’s seal.

Since 2013, Ms. Hanh started depositing money in the company where her friend was the director. Every time the interest payment period came, because she did not need to use it yet, Ms. Hanh continued to deposit this amount. Up to now, the total amount of money she is depositing here is more than 1.2 billion VND. This includes 42,700 euros, 1,000 USD and 34 million VND.

The last time Mr. Dao deposited money into this business was in December 2016, and just a few days later he heard the news of bankruptcy. Photo: TH

At the end of 2016, when she heard that her friend had declared bankruptcy and was no longer able to pay, Ms. Hanh was shocked. “Since then, I have not been able to do anything. All I can think about is money,” Ms. Hanh said. Many times she went to her friend’s house to ask for the money but was unsuccessful, so she sat down on the street in disappointment. Her family was afraid of something happening, so they had to go find her and bring her back. Ms. Hanh said that there were days when she walked absent-mindedly along the street “like a crazy person.”

Meanwhile, her aunt’s husband in Germany knew about the matter and often came home drunk and scolded his wife. “My family is a farmer, so we don’t have much money. Most of it comes from my brother-in-law. For over a year now, she has been calling me constantly, saying that the family there is very stressed because of this. I don’t know what to say,” said Mrs. Hanh.

In addition to losing money, Ms. Hanh’s husband often complained and blamed his wife. “The family atmosphere has been very heavy because of that,” Ms. Hanh said, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Also in the same situation as Mrs. Hanh, Mr. Le Anh Dao (62 years old, hamlet 4, Son Thanh), said that the entire amount of more than 130 million that he deposited in this enterprise did not belong to his family. That was the money that Mr. Dao's brothers and sisters saved and sent back to him to build a house for a younger sister. Mr. Dao has a disabled younger sister who has no family.

“Some of my younger siblings are overseas, some are in the South and sent money to help build a house for her. Because at that time the plan was not to build it yet, and the money was useless, so when Phuc persuaded me to send it there,” said Mr. Dao. Mr. Phuc and Mr. Dao are relatives. The last time Mr. Dao sent money to this business was in December 2016. However, just a few days later, when he was in the South for a relative’s wedding, he suddenly heard the news of bankruptcy.

According to the investigation, up to now, about 200 households in many communes of Yen Thanh and Nghi Loc districts have sent petitions to the police to accuse Mr. Phuc and his wife of embezzling money. The total amount of money that people estimate is up to 70 billion VND. This area has a lot of children working abroad, so the amount of idle money transferred from abroad is quite large.

The savings books issued by this business are very similar to those of banks. Photo: TH

These victims said that it was not because of greed for interest, because the deposit here is not much higher than the bank. Most of them just trusted too much. To have that amount of money, their children sent it back from abroad, some saved it, borrowed money to prepare for their children to go to work abroad, and temporarily deposited it here so that when their children could fly, they could withdraw it to pay the fees. Some people are old, their children gave them a little money to support their old age, and when they saved up a little money, they also deposited it hoping to get some interest for daily expenses... Among the money that people deposited in Phuc Nhien Gold and Silver Private Enterprise, some people deposited as little as a few tens of millions, but some people deposited up to more than 1.6 billion VND.

Previously, as reported by Nghe An Newspaper, for many years now, Phuc Nhien Gold and Silver Private Enterprise, with Mr. Tran Van Phuc as director, has been producing savings books to mobilize capital from hundreds of people. However, Mr. Phuc and his wife later turned around, suddenly declaring "bankruptcy", refusing to pay them. According to the State Bank of Vietnam, Nghe An branch, the capital mobilization and issuance of savings books by this enterprise were illegal, violating the Law on Credit Institutions.

Tien Hung - Phuong Thao