In recent days, many citizens of Nanjing went to Jiangsu Xue's Gao Sheng Credit Guarantee Co., Ltd. in the Shangmao Century Plaza at Xinjiekou to claim their debts. In face of the creditors who came to the door, the company employees said that the chairman had gone out to raise money and was temporarily unable to pay off the debts. Because they have been unable to contact the company chairman Ms. Xue for nearly a month, the creditors with promissory notes ranging from hundreds of thousands to tens of millions were worried that she had fled with the money. After failing to recover their debts, they reported the case to the Baima police. Currently, the police have intervened in the investigation.
Wild borrowing, annual interest can reach up to 48%
Nanjing citizen Mr. Zhang had previously engaged in second-hand housing and stock investments. Last year, no longer optimistic about real estate and the stock market, he met through a friend the chairman of Jiangsu Xue's Gao Sheng Credit Guarantee Co., Ltd., Ms. Xue, and lent her several million yuan in cash. Both parties agreed on a monthly interest rate of 2.5% and received promissory notes signed by Ms. Xue and stamped by her company.
"At the time, both the property market and the stock market were sluggish. The financing interest she offered equated to an annual return of 30%, so I gave her the money," Mr. Zhang said. Later, some friends around him heard about it and also handed over their money to him, asking him to help provide it for Ms. Xue's company to use as working capital.
Ms. Xue's company is located in the Shangmao Century Plaza at Xinjiekou, with a very impressive office. The company looked strong, and many people like Mr. Zhang confidently handed over their money to Ms. Xue for working capital. Ms. Xue was very creditworthy, and after each monthly interest settlement date, she would promptly transfer the interest to the creditors' bank cards.
"Previously, her monthly financing interest rate was more than 2 points, but starting from September last year, due to the tightening of bank loans, her external financing monthly interest rate was as high as more than 4 points." Another creditor, Mr. Zhou, said that in September last year, he lent Ms. Xue 2 million yuan at a monthly interest rate of 4 points.
The chairman goes missing, and the creditors panic
"Before December last year, she would always timely transfer the interest to my bank card every month, so I never went to find her." Mr. Zhang said that in mid-December last year, the expected interest of more than 200,000 yuan did not arrive on time, so he called Ms. Xue. Upon receiving the creditor's call, Ms. Xue was quite polite, apologizing several times, saying that the company was recently facing difficulties in capital turnover, and she was raising funds from multiple sources, hoping for everyone's tolerance and understanding.
"The tightening of bank loans last year made it normal for companies to face difficulties in capital turnover. Every time I called her, she answered, and I could still find her at the company." Mr. Zhang said that Ms. Xue was very friendly towards the creditors who came to the door, and the company appeared to be operating normally, so no one was on high alert.
During the process of claiming interest, many creditors exchanged contact information. By early February this year, the creditors who still hadn't received the interest from the previous two months called Ms. Xue again, only to find either her phone was turned off or there was no answer. "After discovering that no one was answering the phone, we all got a bit panicked and went together to her company at Shangmao, hoping to recover our principal," Mr. Zhang said. However, the employees of Ms. Xue's company claimed that she had gone out to raise money and would return in a while.
Just as the creditors were waiting for Ms. Xue to return with the raised funds, they received a text message from her: "Firstly, I thank all of you for your support, understanding, and tolerance. Thank you all, I apologize to all of you, I am really sorry. Due to poor health and the delay in contacting you regarding the loan matter, please forgive me. I will meet with you soon to discuss solutions." The text message was signed by Ms. Xue.
Due to multiple trips to Ms. Xue's company to claim their debts, many creditors became familiar with each other. "We all did a preliminary tally, and currently, the amount involved is at least 3 billion yuan, not including the funds she borrowed from the company employees," Mr. Zhang said. Because Ms. Xue has been unreachable and hasn't shown up, many creditors have already sought help from the Baima police.