The collapse of the rotating savings and credit association led by the President of the Women's Union of Thai Hoc commune: Many rotating savings and credit association chains with high interest rates

On October 25, Ms. Huong made a report under the direction of the Standing Committee of the Thai Hoc Commune Party Committee. In the report, Ms. Huong stated: “In recent years, after work, I have returned to participate in production labor, take care of my family, and have joined with some villagers to pool money to help each other with the family economy. In the first years, the number of people playing together was very small, but gradually due to high interest rates (for example, paying 10 million VND/month, interest 2 million VND/month), the number of players increased every year." Every month, Ms. Huong collects money from everyone and transfers it to the recipient. However, according to Ms. Huong, some people have taken their surnames before and left for 5-6 years without paying their debts, or some people are still at home but cannot pay their debts.

"By September 30, 2023, I discovered that I had paid and collected incorrectly, so on October 5, 2023, I proactively informed the players that I would stop collecting, and that I might go bankrupt. I personally called and met the players in person to ask for debt, interest, and principal payment as soon as possible. I met some people to close the debt and ask to pay later," Ms. Huong wrote.

On the same day, October 25, the Party Committee of Thai Hoc commune sent a report to the Standing Committee of the Binh Giang District Party Committee, the District People's Committee, the District Party Committee's Inspection Committee, the Women's Union and the District Department of Internal Affairs on the verification of the contents related to Ms. Huong. In this report, on October 16, 2023, the People's Committee of Thai Hoc commune received a report from Mr. Do Van Nam, Party Cell Secretary, Head of Phu Khe village, reflecting on the phenomenon of people gathering at the gate of Ms. Huong's house in Phu Khe village in the past few days to collect debts. After receiving the report, the Chairman of the People's Committee assigned the Head of the Commune Police to direct the Commune Police force to grasp the security and order situation in the locality and promptly report to the Head of the District Police and the Chairman of the People's Committee. Since Ms. Huong went bankrupt, Thai Hoc commune has not received any complaints or requests from the people related to the incident and there has been no phenomenon of people coming to the headquarters to collect money from Ms. Huong.

Mr. D.VM's family in Phu Khe village, Thai Hoc commune has participated in the hui with Ms. Huong since 2014. Mr. M. said: "My son (named H.) has participated in the hui many times". In the list of hui players that Mr. M. provided us, the hui that Mr. M.'s family most recently participated in had 15 players. This paper states the information: those who have not joined the hui contribute 5 million VND per month, those who have joined the hui contribute 6 million VND per month. The hui payment time is from the 25th to the 30th of each month, the hui is delivered on the 30th, no later than the 2nd of the following month (all time points are calculated according to the lunar calendar). On this list, it shows that Mr. M.'s family paid the first month's hui on November 3, 2022 of the lunar calendar, each payment clearly states the payment month, the amount and has Ms. Huong's signature to receive the money.

According to Mr. M., in this round of hui, his family has paid 56 million VND for 11 months. The most recent payment was on the 30th of the 7th lunar month (September 14th of the solar calendar). "I want to be the last recipient in the hui. If nothing changes, I will receive 84 million VND including principal and interest," said Mr. M. However, up to now, Mr. M. only hopes to receive the principal back but does not know when he will receive it. "Ms. Huong called me to inform me of the situation and told me to ask for the interest, and promised to pay the principal in the near future but did not give a specific time frame," said Mr. M.

According to Mr. Do Van Nam, Party Cell Secretary and Head of Phu Khe Village, the village has many people participating in the "bat ho" set up by Ms. Huong. Through the reporter's investigation, each hui has different levels of contribution with many participants. We contacted Ms. Huong to set up a meeting time and exchange specific information. Initially, Ms. Huong agreed but then said she was busy.

Mr. Nhu Dinh Thang, Party Secretary and Chairman of the People's Committee of Thai Hoc Commune, said: "Comrade Huong organized and mobilized money for the hui at her private home, so the commune did not know the scale, form, total number of players and total amount of money. After the above incident, the commune reported to the district to have a handling plan depending on the level of violation." A representative of the Inspection Committee of the Binh Giang District Party Committee said that they had received the information reported by Thai Hoc Commune and were in the process of verifying it according to regulations.

From the incident that occurred in Thai Hoc commune, people need to be vigilant when choosing appropriate forms of investment and savings, ensuring their rights and legitimate interests, and avoiding risks.