On October 22, the Ho Chi Minh City Police Investigation Agency's Criminal Police Division dismantled an illegal lending network operating under the guise of gold rentals. Police launched a criminal case for usury in civil transactions and detained 36 suspects.
Earlier, the Criminal Police Division and other units and local authorities simultaneously inspected eight suspicious locations in Ho Chi Minh City. They found groups that had registered companies, branches and household businesses to provide rental services for goods, jewelry and clothing, but were actually issuing high-interest loans through so-called gold rentals.
Police said the scheme used legal entities and civil contracts to conceal the alleged crimes. The suspects rented premises, put up signs and displayed gold and jewelry. They also created Facebook and Zalo accounts and websites advertising «fast gold rentals» and «gold rentals with installment payments».
When a customer sought a loan, the suspects required an identity card, VNeID data, a bank statement, residential information, employment details and income information. They converted the loan into a gold equivalent and signed a property-rental contract. The borrower sold the gold for cash, paid interest daily and returned the gold or an equivalent amount by the due date.
To conceal the extremely high rates, the suspects divided the interest into smaller charges, including gold-rental, paperwork, service and extension fees. They collected interest in advance and added more fees when contracts were renewed. One company drew up a gold-rental contract together with an evening dress and listed an unusually high dress-rental fee to disguise the loan interest.
Some groups pooled capital, assigned tasks to employees and used software and Zalo groups to manage borrowers and cash flows. In this network, annual rates reached more than 500% in some cases.
A key part of the investigation began with a case discovered on September 29 by Police Group 363 of the Binh Quoi ward police. Through investigative measures, the Criminal Police Division identified Le Thanh Long, born in 1997 and residing in Hanoi, as the group's direct operator. Nguyen Anh Tuan, also born in 1997 and residing in Ho Chi Minh City, allegedly provided capital.
Since May, Long's group has lent more than 10 billion Vietnamese dong to 146 people through 206 contracts and earned more than 4.18 billion dong in alleged illicit profit. Interest rates ranged from 292% to 544.78% a year.
For larger loans, Long also worked with Nguyen Thanh Tuan, born in 1997 and residing in Dong Nai province. He led the DC GOLD Sai Gon Group, which lent money to nearly 100 customers.
The Criminal Police Division of the Ho Chi Minh City Police is continuing to expand the investigation and clarify the case.
Sources: Dân Trí
