Hui, ho, bieu, phuong - hundreds of people cried (Part 1): Sad endings

Over the past years, in Thanh Hoa province, there have been a series of hui collapses. Although the authorities have repeatedly warned, many people have not considered this a lesson and continue to fall into the vortex of the "hui ghost". The "hard-earned" money that a part of the people have saved for a long time suddenly disappeared, causing hundreds of families to be broken, leaving behind unpredictable consequences.

Hui, ho, bieu, phuong - hundreds of people cried (Part 1): Sad endings Mr. Tao Duc Chinh, Dien Ly village, Dien Lu commune (Ba Thuoc) points to the land he plans to build his new house.

Under the scorching heat of May days, Dien Ly village, Dien Lu commune (Ba Thuoc) became even more sultry and gloomy after the incident of hui owner Pham Thi L. jumping into the river to commit suicide, causing shock to the entire poor countryside. Accordingly, on the morning of May 18, 2023, local people discovered Ms. Pham Thi L.'s motorbike and sandals left on the dike of the Ma River. After searching, people discovered Ms. L.'s body in the Ba Thuoc 2 hydroelectric reservoir. Upon receiving the report, Ba Thuoc district police and functional forces promptly arrived to conduct a crime scene investigation, autopsy, and investigation. Initially, it was determined that Ms. L. died from jumping into the river to commit suicide. The cause was presumed to be a broken hui.

According to information from Ba Thuoc District Police, Ms. Pham Thi L. is the owner of 7 hui chains, of which 4 have been paid off, and 3 are about to be paid off. The amount of money in these 3 hui chains is about several hundred million VND, the number of hui members affected is about 55 people. Because Ms. L. has died, up to now, no hui member has filed a complaint to the local authorities about the amount of money they have lost.

Also in Dien Ly village, Dien Lu commune, in early July 2022, a hui collapse occurred, shocking the whole commune and district, causing 104 "hui members" to be in a state of broken homes, some of whom had to be hospitalized for emergency treatment. According to information from the People's Committee of Dien Lu commune, taking advantage of the trust of the people, Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh, born in 1976, Dien Ly village, took the lead in the hui, mobilizing capital from 104 people in the village, commune and surrounding areas. The total amount of money Nguyen Thi Minh mobilized was up to more than 20 billion VND; the person who lent cash was at least 19 million VND, the most was 1.4 billion VND. On June 30, 2022, Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh announced bankruptcy due to her inability to repay the above amount and "disappeared" from her place of residence until now.

After Nguyen Thi Minh declared bankruptcy, many people lost their appetite and sleep, falling into a state of misery, with debts piling up. A typical example is the family of Mr. Tao Duc Chinh and his wife, Ms. Pham Thi Thanh, about 100m from the house of the hui owner Nguyen Thi Minh. Mr. Chinh has no job, his wife works hard day and night at Dien Lu market, saving every penny to participate in a few hui groups. The goal is to save up some money after 2 years to rebuild the house they are living in because it is seriously degraded. Mr. Chinh said: “The amount of money the family contributed to the hui was about 1 billion VND. When it was time to collect the hui, my wife and I ran around to find a date to break ground and build a house. After hearing the news that Mrs. Minh declared bankruptcy, my wife and I were stunned, the sky and earth collapsed, we couldn't eat or sleep for a whole year. All the money we had saved for so long was now gone, the house was in disrepair, every time it rained it leaked and flooded. My family is really struggling now, the children are still in school age, and we have to take care of my mentally ill brother, we don't know what will happen in the future?”

Mr. Nguyen Van Loi, Vice Chairman of Dien Lu Commune People's Committee, said: Playing hui and wards has existed for a long time in the locality. On the positive side, this is a form of contributing capital and accumulating money to support each other in life. However, some people take advantage of playing hui to defraud and appropriate property, causing many families to fall into dire straits. To rectify this situation, in the coming time, the locality will strengthen management and review hui chains at risk of collapsing, hui owners suspected of defrauding and appropriating property or abusing trust to appropriate property to deploy and implement effective preventive measures, early intervention, and effective resolution of hui collapses when they first arise, limiting the occurrence of large gatherings of people, disturbing security and order in the locality.

In the same situation as Mr. Chinh, Ms. Hoang Thi Chien, Tran Cau village, Quang Binh commune (Quang Xuong) could not hold back her tears because she was heartbroken that her 120 million VND was at risk of being lost when participating in a rotating savings and credit association led by Ms. Le Thi Thuy, born in 1979, in Cong Truc village, Quang Binh commune.

Ms. Chien said her family is a farmer , working hard all year round, fasting and drinking to save money from rice and potatoes to participate in 3 hui groups, each group receiving 2 million VND. Every time it was time to collect the hui, Ms. Chien was delayed by the hui owner, promising this month, next month. Because she trusted Thuy, seeing that she was a gentle person, spoke softly, and her family was well off, but when Thuy declared bankruptcy, Ms. Chien was shocked. Every time she thought about the money she had lost, she could not swallow her meal. According to Ms. Chien, in the area where she lived, there were many poor people, even elderly people, who had saved money to pay the hui, hoping to have some capital to take care of their families, but now they were all "stolen" by the hui owner. What happened was truly heartbreaking.

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Xuan Hung, Captain of the Criminal Police Team (Quang Xuong District Police) said: From July to September 2022, the unit received more than 60 complaints from individuals in the communes of Quang Binh, Quang Khe, Quang Hop, Quang Ninh and Tan Phong town accusing Ms. Le Thi Thuy, born in 1979, Cong Truc village, Quang Binh commune of appropriating about 8 billion VND in money from the ward and hui. Through verification, it was found that since 2020, Thuy has opened the ward and hui chains in the form of 1 ward and hui chain with 20 participants, each person paying 2 million VND in principal. When it comes to the ward collection period (1 month/time), if a participant has not yet had their turn to collect, they will be paid 400,000 VND/month in interest. On the contrary, if anyone wants to collect the ward first, in addition to the principal of 2 million VND, they will have to pay an additional 400,000 VND in interest. Those who want to get it in advance must notify Thuy 1 month in advance and Thuy will arrange it. The payment schedule is set for the 28th day of the lunar month, in cash. However, on June 30, 2022, Ms. Thuy and her family left the area. After determining that there were signs of a crime, the Quang Xuong District Police transferred the case to the Criminal Police Department (Provincial Police) to handle and investigate according to their authority.

After working with local authorities as well as grasping public opinion, the case of the broken hui in Quang Binh commune owned by Le Thi Thuy had a much higher amount of money and the number of "hui members" could be up to more than 100 people, because there were many different reasons so the victims did not file a complaint or did not report to the authorities.

These are just 3 of dozens of hui owners in the province who have declared bankruptcy or "taken" the money of the "hui members" and left the locality. A typical example is hui owner Trinh Thi Nh., born in 1972, residing in Tan Thanh residential group, Trieu Son town (Trieu Son), who organized 2 clan chains with 55 members participating, each person paying 5 million VND/month, the total mobilized capital is 150 million VND/month. With the trick of collecting money from them but not paying the players, up to now, the total amount of money that Nh. has not paid is nearly 7 billion VND. In early 2023, Nh. fled the locality. Or the case of a hui collapse with an amount of up to nearly 14 billion VND, owned by Ms. Nguyen Thi Hanh, born in 1958, in zone 4, Yen Cat town (Nhu Xuan). After Ms. Hanh announced that she was unable to pay, it meant that 186 people who participated in the hui with Ms. Hanh lost a total of 13 billion 800 million VND...

It can be affirmed that the recent cases of broken savings and credit associations in the province have caused a stir in public opinion, affecting the lives and economy of a part of the people, putting pressure on State management, especially when the savings and credit association owners intend to defraud and appropriate money from participants. Many broken savings and credit association cases have caused very serious consequences, the number of broken savings and credit association cases amounting to tens of billions of dong, potentially causing insecurity and disorder in the locality.

Article and photos: Xuan Minh

Lesson 2: Identify signs, symptoms and corrective solutions.

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