Account Holders in Chinese Rural Area Have Accounts Frozen for Over 600 Days

More than 300 depositors of a village Bank in Henan Province gathered in front of the Henan Supervisory Bureau to protest and demand that they be able to withdraw their money on June 25, 2022. Courtesy of interviewee/The Epoch Times

Rural banks in China’s Henan Province have frozen depositors’ accounts for more than a year, even after the authorities promised to recover losses. More than 1,000 large account holders have received no repayment, but suppression from the police and local officials, adding further miseries to their already dire situations.

On Oct. 25, local officials dispatched hundreds of police to block over 100 depositors who tried to claim their savings from the banks.

Chen Yang, a businessman and a victim of the bank fraud, told the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times that about 50 of them have gone missing, and most of them are small and medium business owners.

According to Mr. Chen, two depositors were already removed by the police in another gathering of the victims on Oct. 21, when police showed up and people dressed in black of unknown identity restrained the depositors by their necks with banners.

The Victims

In April 2022, four rural banks in Henan Province blocked people from accessing their deposits, affecting 413,000 Chinese depositors and an estimated total of $5.93 billion.

Large-scale protests broke out in July. The local authorities responded with plans to repay those with frozen accounts in rural banks.

To this day, there are still over 1,000 depositors with a substantial amount of savings receiving no compensation, with an estimated total amount of around 13 billion yuan ($1.78 billion), according to Mr. Chen.

Earlier in January, Chinese media Caixin also reported that the banks failed to fulfill the repayment of the large accounts.

Some of the victims told The Epoch Times that oppression has been ongoing, consequently, many of them went bankrupt and families were torn apart.

People hold banners and stage a protest at the branch of China's central bank in Zhengzhou in central China's Henan Province on July 10, 2022. Yang/AP Photo

Defamation

Wang Lin, an entrepreneur, started a savings account at Xuchang Rural Commercial Bank at the end of 2011.

“I have a bank card, all my savings were registered on my card. But for the past 600 days, the Henan government has declined the repayment. My savings became so-called illegal capital.

“It’s all my liquid assets. But they just dubbed it as illegal without any documentation or proof. I have a sick elderly at home, my kids need to go to school, I have a mortgage and wages to pay,” said Ms. Wang.

Her company is on the verge of shutting down, and her husband is fighting with her trying to get a divorce, “My life is totally ruined,” she said.

According to Ms. Wang, she’s traveled to Henan more than 10 times to retrieve her money, and each time, she’s either taken to the police station or put under house arrest.

She said her money was stored in a bank with Xuchang Rural Commercial Bank as a major shareholder. It is affiliated with the government through the Xuchang State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

The bank is operating normally, but refuses to release any of her deposits, she said.

Previously, Henan law enforcement authorities’ investigation said that a criminal gang illegally manipulated four rural banks and their online banking systems, through companies including the Henan New Wealth Group, to illegally transfer out funds.

It was reportedly that the Group engaged in illicit practices by unlawfully accumulating and managing public funds through collaborations within and outside the banks, as well as leveraging third-party platforms and fund intermediaries. These activities included the manipulation of initial business data to conceal their unlawful conduct.

Chinese media reported that it is evident that the majority of customers involved in off-the-books operations were not informed about or familiar with the suspected criminal actions of the Group. Subsequently, the authorities initiated a series of repayments for those affected customers.

Ms. Wang said that the rural bank accused those out-of-town large account holders of participating in the illegal operations. “They keep verbally defaming us, accusing us of participating in illegal fund accumulation, even though there is no written proof to substantiate their claims,” said Ms. Wang.

A Defaulter Overnight

“After 70 Days of the unlawful account freezing, my financial lifeline has been severed,” said Chen Yang, an entrepreneur and victim of the Henan rural bank scam.

His factory which offered hundreds of jobs to locals has gone out of business, and he had to let go of all his workers. His wife also left him with their kids.

He’s heavily in debt with a pile of unpaid bank loans. “My business has evaporated. My once prosperous life has crumbled to pieces. I’m now in a baffling situation where I’m not only deep in debt but also labeled as a defaulter. It’s surreal to think that my bank account holds millions, and yet I’m now considered a defaulter. It’s truly astonishing to me,” said Mr. Chen.

The Henan government and banks have caused all these calamities. They are openly looting businessmen and ordinary citizens’ savings, he said.

He’s faced with physical violence, detention, threats, and intimidation whenever he visits Henan to make withdrawals.

According to Mr. Chen, countless businessmen became displaced by the Henan government’s actions. Many of them died, some of their families passed away, some couldn’t access proper health care due to financial constraints, while others were constantly coerced by debt collectors. Some battled severe depression, and for a few, the overwhelming despair led to relapses of pre-existing conditions.

Stability Maintenance

“I have suffered from severe depression since last April, and was even hospitalized at one point in time. Life is very miserable. I have to rely on sleeping pills,” said Liu Hong, a businesswoman whose savings are tied up in the rural bank. Her company has shut down and laid off over 200 employees.

“Henan rural banks have left us in dire straits, with no legal recourse,” said Ms. Liu.

According to Ms. Liu, she was met with intervention on her way to Henan Province, with the local Party secretary “showing up at our doorstep in the dead of night. It’s an unendurable situation,” said Ms. Liu.

She said that traveling used to be her hobby, now she’s relying on money borrowed from friends and relatives, and her children can’t even afford to go to school.

“I opened an account over the bank counter, but now it’s frozen. The bank is running, and the balance is still there when I check through online banking. They only allow you to deposit, but no withdrawal. What is it that we can do?” she said.

According to several affected depositors, Henan local customers can freely withdraw their savings, while the non-local customers’ accounts are frozen. They perceive it as a de facto confiscation targeting savings belonging to non-local private entrepreneurs.

The victims further disclosed that the Henan government issued orders to the Public Security Bureau of other provinces, to obstruct out-of-town depositors from traveling to Henan. This included tactics such as installing GPS trackers on depositors’ vehicles, deploying unidentified individuals to monitor their activities in the residence, and even resorting to psychological intimidation through phone calls by the police.

All interviewees were given pseudonyms for fear of the regime’s retaliation.

Li Yun and Xiong Bin contributed to this report.