Nghe An: Woman 'hugs' billions of dong in savings and flees
(Baonghean.vn) - The woman participated in hundreds of hui groups, at the same time set up a series of hui chains under her control and borrowed money from many people, then ran away, causing the countryside in Hung Nguyen to be devastated.
Signs of uncertainty
In mid-July, Nghe An Newspaper reporters received a series of requests for help from people in two communes, Hung Yen Nam and Hung Yen Bac (Hung Nguyen). All of these people accused a woman named Nguyen Thi Mai (59 years old, residing in Hamlet 1, Hung Yen Nam Commune) of abusing trust and appropriating property when she ran away with the money from the savings association for nearly a month now.
Ms. Pham - 34 years old, a trader in Hen market (Hung Yen Bac commune), said that people in this commune have had a tradition of playing hui for many years, especially traders, teachers, and civil servants in the area with regular income. Ms. Pham said that more than a year ago, Ms. Mai asked to join a hui chain that she was the owner of and was accepted. This hui chain has up to 46 members, each member costs 2 million VND, equivalent to members having to pay for 46 months to complete a chain. Each month, the person with the highest bid will be able to draw hui with the amount of 92 million VND, excluding interest. Ms. Mai participated in up to 6 members, meaning that each month she has to pay 12 million VND to the hui leader.
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| 4 hui owners accused Ms. Mai of appropriating property. Photo: Tien Hung |
According to the regulations, every month on the day of drawing the hui, the members will write down the interest amount to be drawn on a secret ballot, then give it to the hui leader. If any member offers the highest interest rate, the leader will announce that he has won the hui that month. Of course, each portion can only be drawn once before the hui chain has gone through a round. With 6 portions, it means that Ms. Mai will be able to participate in the interest auction to draw the hui 6 times.
“At first, she paid in full and on time. When the day came to draw, she bid very high, millions of dong more than others. Therefore, Ms. Mai was always drawn every time she bid. However, after drawing 6 times, she refused to pay the hui anymore. Two months later, she disappeared and no one contacted her again,” Ms. Pham said.
According to Ms. Pham, because Ms. Mai had run away, as the head of the hui, she had to pay 6 installments each month on behalf of this woman to maintain the hui. "Every month I have to pay 12 million VND on her behalf, the hui has 32 more months to run out," Ms. Pham said.
Similar to Ms. Pham, Ms. H. (34 years old, in Hung Yen Nam commune) has been restless for many days because Ms. Mai ran away before completing the hui. Ms. H. is the owner of two hui chains, and both of them have Ms. Mai participating with many shares. However, after paying all her shares, since April 2021, Ms. Mai refused to pay the hui even though it was the due date. "At that time, I kept calling to urge her, but she kept delaying it over and over again, asking me to temporarily pay on her behalf, and then get the money from selling the house or land or something and then pay it back. Who would have thought that in June she would run away," Ms. H. said, adding that, similar to other hui chains, when participating in the hui chain she owns, Ms. Mai's trick is to offer an extremely high interest rate to get priority to pay first. And when she paid all her shares, she stopped paying. Currently, the amount of money Ms. Mai still owes to the two hui chains owned by Ms. H. is more than 180 million VND.
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| Most of the vendors at Hen market are victims of Ms. Mai. Photo: Tien Hung |
Run away with more than 10 billion dong?
Not only did Ms. Mai ask to join the hui and then withdraw money and run away, she also set up dozens of huis under her own control. Most of the members failed before they could even withdraw a single amount. “I joined a 2 million VND monthly ward account headed by Ms. Mai. I paid regularly for the past 18 months, and I never received a single withdrawal, and now the hui owner has run away,” said Ms. Huong (37 years old), one of Ms. Mai’s victims.
In addition, before fleeing, Ms. Mai also borrowed money from many people with the promise of high interest rates. Among the victims, there was even a leader of Hung Yen Nam commune.
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| Many creditors came to her house to meet with Ms. Mai. However, according to the leaders of Hung Yen Nam commune, the house had been sold to someone else. Photo: Tien Hung |
According to the reporter's investigation, the total amount of money that Ms. Mai "held" from the people was more than 10 billion VND. Only being present in Hung Yen Nam commune for one afternoon, the reporter counted nearly 20 hui owners accusing Ms. Mai of appropriating hui money with a total amount of more than 5 billion VND. Not to mention hundreds of hui members participating in the hui chain headed by Ms. Mai and those who lent her money. "Because many people have not yet filed a complaint, the statistics are not complete. According to information from the hui owners, the total amount is more than 10 billion VND, but the exact number must wait for the investigation agency", a leader of Hung Yen Nam commune said and said that, not only causing chaos in Hung Yen Nam commune, Ms. Mai also participated in a series of hui chains and borrowed money from people in many neighboring communes such as Hung Trung, Hung Yen Bac...
According to the reporter's investigation, Ms. Mai used to be a teacher at Hung Yen Secondary School. More than 10 years ago, Ms. Mai and her husband moved from Hung Dong Commune (Vinh City) to live in Hung Yen Nam Commune. She built a fairly decent house right at the foot of the mountain in Hamlet 1. A few years ago, after retiring, she worked as a seller of votive paper at Hen Market, Hung Yen Bac Commune. Since then, she has participated in most of the hui chains in Hung Yen Nam and Hung Yen Bac Communes.
In recent days, many victims have come to Mrs. Mai's house, but the gate is always locked. There is no one inside. However, according to a leader of Hung Yen Nam commune, all of Mrs. Mai's assets have been disposed of; the house has also been sold to someone else. "We have notified the people that anyone who is a victim of Mrs. Mai should file a complaint. Let the police investigate," the commune leader added.