1. Case Introduction
Between 2017 and 2018, defendants Zhang, Tao, and others formed a relatively fixed criminal organization and, under the guise of private lending, carried out a large number of "routine loan" criminal activities by signing inflated "loan" contracts, "transferring documents to balance accounts", and "repaying loans with loans" to increase debt. If the victim was unable to repay, the defendant forcibly transferred or actually occupied the mortgaged property such as houses or vehicles provided by the victim. For example, in March 2017, the defendant Wang introduced the victim Rao to borrow 30000 yuan from the "XX consignment shop" opened by the defendant Tao. Rao used his own vehicle as collateral, and Tao arranged for personnel to install GPS on the mortgaged vehicle to track its whereabouts at any time. He actually lent only 16000 yuan to Rao, but Rao has since repaid a total of 27000 yuan in principal and interest, which has not been fully repaid. After the incident, a total of 18 individuals, including the ringleaders and general members of the criminal group, the main and auxiliary members of the evil force criminal gang, and other personnel, were sentenced after trial. The suspected charges include fraud and extortion, and multiple defendants were punished for multiple crimes.
II. Case Analysis
This case reveals the basic characteristics of "routine loans": 1. The actual loan amount is much less than the loan amount on the promissory note. The lender fully utilized the borrower's urgent need for money, usually reducing the agreed upon loan principal through various means such as "cutting off interest", resulting in a significant reduction in the actual loan amount received by the borrower compared to the loan amount stated on the promissory note. In the above case, the reduction ratio was nearly half; 2. Due to high interest rates, the amount of principal and interest that needs to be fully repaid is often too high for borrowers to afford. In order to obtain high profits, lenders not only make a fuss over the loan principal, but also require borrowers to pay high interest beyond the legal protection limit; 3. Those who provide property collateral when borrowing, especially vehicles, will be forcibly installed with monitoring facilities. Once debt repayment difficulties occur, property safety will be seriously threatened, and the value of the property will be much higher than the debt itself.
III. Warm Reminder
How can the public prevent "routine loans"?
1. Financing should seek legal institutions
As the saying goes, 'pies never fall from the sky, if they do, they must be poisonous.'. With the prosperity and development of the market economy, people's demand for capital is increasing, and financing should choose legitimate institutions. Relatively speaking, although many private financing institutions have low entry barriers, fewer procedures, and can solve urgent problems, they often come with unequal conditions and pose significant risks, not only endangering property but even life. They should be kept away from to avoid falling into the trap of "routine loans".
2. In case of danger, call the police in a timely manner
The "routine loan" suspected of committing crimes has a complete set of behavior patterns and processes that cannot be completed by one person. There are often powerful and complex criminal organizations behind the scenes, and it is difficult to handle them alone. If unfortunately involved in the "routine loan", one must bravely choose to report to the police to avoid getting deeper and causing tragedy. The judicial authorities will also handle it according to law, crack down on crime, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of the people.
This article is transferred from the WeChat official account of "Shanxi Province to prevent and combat illegal fund-raising"
Content source: Lintao Association for Science and Technology
