A money-changing shop in Sheung Shui earlier lured a large number of customers to deposit and invest with interest rates of up to 9% a year. Later, it was said that the turnover was not working. More than 40 victims claimed that during the recovery, they were once dispersed by the police with a "restriction order". Afterwards, the police only admitted confessions to two victims. The money-changer involved did not hold a deposit-taking company license issued by the HKMA and was suspected of committing "illegal fund-raising" and "fraud" (see also the draft). Some members of the Legislative Council considered the incident to be like a "Ponzi scheme", criticized the police for being "lazy" and demanded serious follow-up.
At the end of last month, the newspaper visited the "China-South Korea Exchange" on the ground floor of No. 7 Sham Hong Street in Sheung Shui. The store did not open. The staff of another money changer nearby said that the "China-South Korea Exchange" has been closed since early April. Until May 22, a large number of citizens had come to the money changer and posted a slogan on the gate to pursue the arrears. The staff arrived at the scene to dispute with the chief of staff. Afterwards, "China-South Korea Exchange" had a staff member who returned to the store and ripped off the slogan.
Written arrears claim to be reassigned in May
The scam owner, Mr. He, said that the money-changing store in question was opened in August last year and was operated by a middle-aged woman named Wei Zhong, her husband and son named Chen. At first, she only went to the store to exchange RMB, but after more than a month, Wei took the initiative He sells deposit savings services and claims that he can distribute 0.1% interest and settle accounts every 4 days. The annual interest rate is calculated as a single interest rate of up to 9%, and the interest will be directly deposited into the bank account of the depositor.
Mr. He said that due to greed, he deposited 1 million yuan to earn interest. Wei didn't provide the deposit documents. In the first half of the year, he distributed nearly 50 times a total of about 50,000 interest, but suddenly stopped paying dividends in April this year. He wanted to ask Wei Fu to return the principal. The other party said that the turnover was not effective and could not refund it. He only wanted to photocopy his identity card and write down the arrears, saying that there was enough capital turnover before May 21st, but there was no repayment in the end.
40 people pursued
When he went to the money-changing store on May 22 to find it, he found out that more than 40 people were present at the money-changing store outside the door. He knew that the money-changing store had taken up to 13 million yuan in deposits. What did it mean that Wei Fu hid in the shop and called the police at that time. A large number of police officers did not understand the incident when they arrived. They blamed the gathering of the victims for "doing things well" and threatened to disperse in violation of the "restriction order". A number of victims later went to the Sheung Shui Police Station for investigation, but what did the police say that he was instructed to act as a representative, and only confessed to him. When the statements were made, he repeatedly said that "debt is not a crime, and it is useless to send a messenger." There was a lot of noise, and the police took an confession to one more victim.
Police: Ask the police to investigate and no one has been arrested
The police responded that on May 22, they received a report from a female shop owner, saying that they had disputes with many customers over business. The police officer on the scene reminded the participants that they might violate the "restriction order". Keep an appropriate distance. The police said that at 9 o'clock on the same day, the Sheung Shui Police Station received a report from 8 men and women, saying that when they exchanged RMB for Hong Kong dollars at the money-changing shop involved, the shop closed without paying the Hong Kong dollar. Listed as "police investigation", Jiao Tai Po Police District Criminal Investigation Team No. 2 team followed up. No one has been arrested.
Lin Zhuoting questioned the non-serious cases and the promotion of freezing households
Legislative Council member Lin Zhuoting believes that the money-changing store involved lured a large number of victims with a high interest rate to deposit more than 13 million yuan and the funds were not insolvent. It was like a "Ponzi scheme", and the money-changing store did not hold a banking license and accepted the deposit. It is a criminal case of illegal fund raising and fraud, but the police only confessed to the two victims, and it has not been transferred to the higher level department such as the serious case team for follow-up. They questioned the police’s “lazy management” and believed that the police should refer the case To the serious case team or the Commercial Crime Investigation Branch and other departments, and immediately freeze the account of the change shop, and follow up the case seriously.
Source: Ming Pao
