The case of 5 Grameen Bank scam in Henan and neighboring Anhui province of China has come to light. Banks had promised high interest to people on depositing money, people deposited their money in these banks in the greed of high returns and after some time their money got sunk. This is being said to be China’s biggest financial scam so far, about which there have been huge protests. After massive protests in central China, Chinese officials have now promised to repay customers’ money.
The national banking regulator said in a statement on Monday that customers of five rural banks in Henan and Anhui provinces whose funds were deposited since April will get their money back. The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission said customers with deposits of up to 50,000 yuan ($7,442) would be repaid from Friday, with other customers to be repaid later.
The regulator said money involved in “illegal or criminal” activity will not be repaid. On Sunday, police said they had arrested several suspects who took control of several banks through a group company and conducted illegal transactions through fake loans.
This banking scam is being considered as China’s biggest financial scam till date. The scandal has sparked several protests in recent months. In the demonstration regarding this, people also faced police action at many places. Similar demonstrations were held in May and June, according to a report by Reuters news agency.
In view of this, an estimated 1,000 depositors gathered outside the People’s Bank of China in Zhengzhou city on Sunday to demand their money back. In a viral video, protesters were seen being beaten up and dragged by unidentified men dressed in white. Some protesters accused local police and officials of collusion with banks, and protesters said they were asked by Chinese police to ask for COVID health passes to prevent them from public places.
Similarly, in June, authorities in Zhengzhou punished five officials for changing the health codes of more than 1,300 customers to prevent them from using public transport and entering public places, according to a report by aljazeera.