Now Net News: Tempted by the high monthly interest rate of 5.5%, Guo Zhixiang, a 60-year-old man from Gong'an County in Jingzhou, borrowed 2.5 million yuan at high interest from a pawnshop and lent it to Hanzhuang Village in Caidian District for property development. However, the village party secretary, Mr. Gong, who initially approved the loan, was sentenced to prison for embezzlement. The repayment period was promised to be three months but nearly two years have passed, and the debt remains unpaid. Guo Zhixiang went multiple times to collect his debt but failed; instead, he was slashed by dozens of people, suffering over ten knife wounds. Another creditor who accompanied him also suffered a comminuted fracture of the right hand.
High-interest loans were used to make profits through interest differentials.
"Debts should be repaid, it's only natural. I didn't expect to be slashed like this," said Guo Zhixiang lying on a hospital bed at Tongji Hospital at 10 am yesterday. He had a 6 cm long scar on his forehead, another 3 cm long scar from his right cheek to his nose bridge, along with multiple cuts on the back of his head and back.
The incident originated in June 2008.
Guo Zhixiang said he originally had no connection with Hanzhuang Village in Caidian District. Through a friend's introduction, he lent 2.5 million yuan at a monthly interest rate of 5.5% to Hanzhuang Village for property development. They agreed to repay after three months. These 2.5 million yuan were borrowed from a certain pawnshop in Gong'an County at a monthly interest rate of 5.31%. He originally intended to profit from the interest differential.
Three receipts issued by Guo Zhixiang showed that the total loan amount to Hanzhuang Village was 2.5 million yuan, received on July 7, 2008, marked as "village development loan, for adjusting plot ratio, deed tax", with an agreement to pay monthly interest at 5.5%.
"If calculated until now, the interest would already exceed 3 million yuan," Guo Zhixiang calculated that one could earn 550 yuan per month in interest for every 10,000 yuan, which meant a monthly interest of 137,500 yuan for 2.5 million yuan.
Failed to Collect Loan, Was Injured
Three months quickly passed, yet Guo Zhixiang not only did not receive any interest, but also did not get back the principal of 2.5 million yuan. After the change of village cadres, Mr. Gong was no longer the party secretary of Hanzhuang Village.
Guo Zhixiang repeatedly approached Hanzhuang Village, Caidian Street, and the district government about this matter, but the issue remained unresolved. Seeing the increasing interest owed to the pawnshop, Guo Zhixiang became increasingly anxious. This money was also raised locally by the pawnshop, and creditors kept urging them, so the pawnshop then urged Guo Zhixiang to collect the money. However, despite numerous attempts to approach the local government, Guo Zhixiang still did not recover the principal or interest.
On August 24, Guo Zhixiang and more than ten creditors and friends once again arrived at Hanzhuang Village. The real estate development project they had previously borrowed money for had started sales, and Guo Zhixiang hoped to reclaim the loan.
Guo Zhixiang said that on that day, relevant responsible persons from Hanzhuang Village warned them not to cause trouble anymore. At 8:10 am on August 25, as soon as they got out of the car, they were attacked by dozens of unidentified individuals wielding machetes and wooden sticks. Some even carried homemade short guns.
Guo Zhixiang was injured the most severely, with over ten knife wounds on his body. His friend Xie Guangqing, also a creditor, suffered a comminuted fracture of the right hand and multiple knife wounds. Everyone else was also injured to varying degrees.
At 3:20 pm on August 26, officials from Hanzhuang Village and Caidian Street delivered 50,000 yuan as condolence money.
Caidian Street: Repayment of 2.5 Million Yuan Principal Tomorrow
In the afternoon, Wang Bo, deputy director of the Comprehensive Governance Office of Caidian Street, stated that shortly after borrowing in July 2008, during the village cadre election, Mr. Gong, the party secretary of Hanzhuang Village, was found guilty of embezzlement and sentenced to seven years in prison in 2009, where he is currently serving his sentence. After the new cadre took office, they believed this loan was Mr. Gong's personal action, and the receipt did not bear the official seal. Additionally, Hanzhuang Village has been in financial deficit for a long time, and villagers strongly opposed recognizing this loan, so it was never acknowledged.
Last year, after investigation by the local disciplinary committee and audit department, it was discovered that although this 2.5 million yuan loan was not recorded in the village accounts, it was indeed used for infrastructure construction of the village's real estate project. Caidian Street clearly required that this loan must be repaid, which was also recognized by Hanzhuang Village.
Wang Bo mentioned that due to tight funds, the real estate development could not continue, so Hanzhuang Village invited three investors to jointly develop the project. This year, as the real estate began selling, Hanzhuang Village started recovering funds and thus invited Guo Zhixiang to handle the repayment matters. It was agreed to repay the principal of 2.5 million yuan in three installments by the end of the year.
"Who would have expected such an event." Wang Bo said that negotiations were proceeding smoothly, but on August 24, suddenly more than a dozen people appeared causing trouble at the real estate site, and they were persuaded to leave by the street and village authorities. Unexpectedly, on the second day, while discussing repayment, just as they had determined to repay the principal in full on August 31, news came that Guo Zhixiang and others had been beaten.
Wang Bo said that Guo Zhixiang and others had repeatedly gone to Hanzhuang Village to collect their debts, behaving quite aggressively. "They could have filed a lawsuit in court and sought legal avenues!" Wang Bo believed that this time, pulling banners at the real estate sales office affected its normal operations. However, the beating was definitely not authorized by the village cadres, who demanded swift investigation and clarification of the facts. Since the incident occurred in Hanzhuang Village and was related to the village's debt, the street and village sent 50,000 yuan as condolence money.
Wang Bo said that the "August 25" serious assault case has become a supervised case in the district, and the public security department has formed a special team to solve the case. He also said that the principal of 2.5 million yuan would be repaid in full to Guo Zhixiang on August 31.
"The issue of interest certainly needs negotiation." Wang Bo said that excessive interest is not protected by law, and according to regulations, interest matters will be negotiated within the scope recognized by law.
Lawyer: Excessive Interest Not Protected by Law
Director Liu Yuanbo of Hubei Penglai Law Firm believed that borrowing money under the name of the village committee due to a lack of funds is allowed by law, but the agreed-upon interest rate is too high, approximately eight times the concurrent interest rate. The law does not protect parts exceeding four times the concurrent bank loan interest rate. Similarly, if Guo Zhixiang borrows money from a pawnshop, the part exceeding four times the concurrent bank loan interest rate is also not supported by law. If Guo Zhixiang fails to recover the principal and interest, and negotiations fail, he can file a lawsuit in court.
Opinion
Expert: Village Borrowing Should Be Democratically Decided
Professor Wu Licai from the Research Center for Rural Issues at Central China Normal University believed that there are many cases of collective village real estate development in coastal areas, and real estate also has a certain market. However, villages in central regions mostly rely on fiscal subsidies to maintain the operation of the village committee. When village collectives engage in real estate development, they often have weak economic foundations, relatively smaller market demands, and slower capital recovery. Like Hanzhuang Village, first finding someone to borrow money at high interest rates, then inviting others to participate when funds are tight, indicates that the village actually lacks the ability to develop real estate projects.
Not recording loans in accounts, agreeing on such high interest rates, and directly using loans for real estate development, these procedures must have violated regulations, and relevant personnel may benefit from them.
He believed that since this loan exceeds the village's repayment capacity, it should be decided by the village representative assembly whether to borrow and how high the interest rate should be, rather than being decided privately by one or two cadres. Without implementing villager autonomy and supervision, corruption will inevitably occur, leaving a series of problems for the next leadership team.
Wu Licai believed that this case illustrates that achieving villager autonomy through institutional management is necessary to use supervision to prevent corruption.
Reported by Zhou Qi of our newspaper