A while ago, I was chatting with a friend and mentioned that my mother had lost nearly 400,000 in a Ponzi scheme, and my friend was surprised to hear that the point of surprise was not only “400,000 The number is not only “400,000”, but also “why does everyone in the north seem to have a mother who has been cheated out of money”.
I realized for the first Time that many people do not know that in the north, especially in Hebei, Henan, Shandong and other provinces in the counties and rural areas, there was a very widespread existence of a kind of “cooperative “Ponzi scheme.
One of the largest and most influential cooperatives was the “Sandi Farmer Professional Cooperative” in Longyao County, Xingtai City, Hebei Province, which by the time the scam collapsed, the three cooperatives had illegally By the time the scam collapsed, the three cooperatives had raised over 8 billion yuan in illegal capital, involving more than 100,000 people.
The cooperative that involved my mother in the Ponzi scheme was called “Qianfeng Professional Cooperative”, which was not as large as the Sandi Cooperative, but by the time the whole scheme collapsed and the head was arrested, the official The official size of the fundraising had been announced as 11 million yuan, but the real size had actually exceeded 20 million yuan.
Many people think that most of the people who fall into this scam are less educated, less alert and less greedy, but in fact they are not.
My mom has been a principal in the county for thirty years, so she went to school, studied, and has seen the world because of her job, but more importantly, she is extremely cautious about the savings she has saved on her salary, and for many years, the only way she managed her money was to keep it in the bank.
But even so, she fell step by step into what now seems like a ridiculous Ponzi scheme.
The following is my mother’s account –
One
The first time I met Dong Lihua was in 2012, in the business hall of the county’s construction bank, before that, I only knew that such a person existed, but the impression was very faint, she is my mother’s neighbor, and I was briefly a teacher in the same school, but in the end, which name corresponds to which person, I never really knew.
So, when she greeted me that day, I couldn’t even remember who this dark, fat woman in front of me was.
That day she dragged me to talk for a long time, she has long since stopped being a teacher, now running insurance outside, to the construction bank, but also to the county’s insurance company, anyway, people who come to the bank, must be some money in hand, so she daily squatting in the bank lobby.
I was thinking of buying a few insurance for me and your father, after all, we are old and have some spare money in our hands, so we want to buy a few insurance, one to give more protection to the Family, the second is better than all exist in the bank, is also why I talked to Tung Lihua more than a few words.
I later thought back, in fact, because that day I told her that I wanted to buy insurance, which let her know that I have some free money in my hands, she should have been playing on my idea from that time.
But she did not rush to mention the money, but first recommended me a few insurance, that a few insurance is really good, in the middle there are some cooling-off period reversal, surrender and other things, she also helped me deal with very well, I think this person is quite reliable, her trust is also more than a few points.
How could I have imagined that she had such a big idea behind her.
Two
The first time she mentioned “saving money” to me was in early 2013, and yes, she used the wording that sounded risk-free The first time she mentioned “saving money” to me was in early 2013, and yes, she used the wording that sounded risk-free: “saving money,” not the risky-sounding “investment. investment”.
She said she had a channel to save money, the interest rate is much higher than the bank, and at any time can be flexible to take out, but also as safe as in the bank.
The “channel” is the Thousand Harvest Cooperative.
She said that the cooperative gave an interest rate of nine percent, that is, 10,000 yuan in the deposit there for a year, you can have nine hundred yuan of interest, when the bank’s time deposit rate is about three percent.
Don’t underestimate the “nine percent” figure, it’s a very delicate number, if it’s higher, for example, ten percent, up to double digits, I would think it’s too high. Then the ensuing risk must also be very large, but if it is lower, it feels not too much different from the existence of the bank, it is naturally safer to exist in the bank.
The “nine percent” gave me the subtle illusion that it was a good return, but also that it was not so high as to be risky.
But even so, I wasn’t convinced by her right away. After all, I’ve kept my money in the bank for so many years, and to take it out and put it into a “co-op” that I don’t know if it’s formal or not, I was really uncomfortable. “I have some concerns in my heart.
But these concerns really can not stand her old talk, old persuasion, every time we met during that period, she had to persuade me to deposit the money in.
Dong Lihua said, as long as I deposit the money in, she will be responsible for helping me to watch, at any time to use, at any time to pick up, there is no problem.
Dong Lihua also said that if there is really a problem, but where there is a little wind, she will immediately help us get the money out, if not, then she will take her own money to pay me, she will sell the house to pay me, it will be fine.
Dong Lihua convinced me that the most important sentence is that her own money is also in it, she has invested more than 800,000 in it, including the money she was going to buy a house, which is almost all her family money.
I was thinking, since her own money is also in it, it must be safer.
I didn’t know that even she didn’t understand what the “cooperative” was all about.
Three
Dong Lihua was not a salesperson of the cooperative at the earliest, she was just dragged by an acquaintance who was a salesperson to invest a sum of money in it, and when she saw that her acquaintance had money to earn from running the business, she wanted to join.
But at that time, Qianfeng Cooperative was the hottest and most profitable time, and there was a limit to the number of salesmen in each county, so she couldn’t join it if she wanted to, and she was chagrined for a while.
In fact, she never understood the essence of the Ponzi scheme behind the form of “cooperative”.
The so-called “Ponzi scheme” is actually similar to a “pyramid scheme The so-called “Ponzi scheme” has a similar structure, mainly to attract people to join with high returns, and use the money of those who join later to pay for the returns of those who join first, as long as there are new people to join, then the people who join first will always have earnings to take.
But as more and more people join, the need to pay more and more earnings, and when there are not so many new people to put money in (which will certainly happen, just a matter of time), the game will therefore collapse, because it does not have industry, much less profit, it is purely a money game.
It’s just that when they pull you in, no one will tell you that, they will tell you “we have industry” “We have a factory” “If something happens, these industries can also be discounted to pay you back “, just like what the salesman who first pulled Dong Lihua into the money said.
Dong Lihua did believe these, and then see the early joined people are making big money, she will only eye red heart hot want to hurry to join.
The reason why she was able to join later was because the woman who pulled her into the society took the initiative to quit the cooperative.
The woman’s husband worked in the county public security bureau, and after learning about the cooperative’s mode of operation, he felt that it was absolutely impossible for it to last, so he urged her to quit.
This is why Dong Lihua had the opportunity to take advantage of the situation and grab a salesman slot.
Later, when the cooperative collapsed and the head was arrested, Dong Lihua realized how prescient the woman’s husband had been and how foolish she had been to rush in when others had already realized that something was wrong and had taken the initiative to quit.
Four
In fact, I had the opportunity to avoid the trap.
At that time, Dong Lihua had persuaded me for nearly half a year, back and forth all those words, “can be used as you go” “as safe as the bank” “my money is also in it “”I will personally compensate you with money if something goes wrong”, said I was convinced to take out some money from the bank and deposit it.
I have a very familiar teller at the CCB named Li Xiaoli, I have been going to the CCB for years to do any business with her, considered her regular customers, if she knew I was withdrawing money to put into the cooperative, she was sure to stop me.
After the incident, she told me that she knew early on that Dong Lihua, who was always in the lobby, was running some questionable business, but she just didn’t think I would fall into it.
I was really taken by the “interest rate of nine percent” “as safe as I was really blinded by the “interest rate of nine percent,” “as safe as in the bank,” “I personally take money to compensate you for the accident I was fooled by the words “9% interest rate”, “as safe as in the bank” and “I will personally pay for it if something goes wrong”, and I just wanted to put my money in.
I even specifically picked Li Xiaoli not at the counter to get the money in order to take it out smoothly, I thought at the time that I was trying to avoid embarrassment, but later thought that I was actually afraid that she would stop me.
There were about six months before and after, I deposited 400,000 into the cooperative one after another.
When Dong Lihua saw that I had also invested money in it, she began to persuade me to join the cooperative and do it with her. At that time, I was close to retirement age, so she said that I should start doing it from now on, and save myself the boredom after retirement.
In her mouth, the cooperative was as good as heaven, not only gave them high commission, but also took them to travel to the south, and gave them rice, flour, oil and Food on New Year’s Day, and the most important thing was that they could really earn money, and many of them bought houses and cars through the cooperative.
I was not moved at all, it is impossible, who does not like money, but I have been a principal for so many years, let me go running business, pulling heads, I really feel some pull face, so finally I did not agree to go running business with her.
Now that I think about it, this point of my good face problem, but it saved me, or later sentenced to prison is me.
Five
After I deposited the money, less than four months later, I heard that something had happened, not from Dong Lihua, but from an old colleague who came back from Beijing, who told me that many cooperatives in Longyao and Handan had recently been in trouble, and the money could not be withdrawn, and the heads had been arrested.
I panicked when I heard that, and rushed to find Dong Lihua, who said she hadn’t heard of any problems and waited for her to ask about it.
I do not know if she really did not hear, or pretend not to hear, anyway, after she asked, or insisted that there is no problem, the money is fine.
But I thought about it, but I still feel uneasy, so I told her to take out all my money, I still put the money back in the bank, at least peace of mind.
Of course she was full of promise, but the money could not be taken out, dragged for a week and a week, how can not be taken out.
Dong Lihua explained that the cooperative had recently encountered some difficulties in turnover, which had also been encountered before, but they were temporary, and would be fine after a while, when she was sure to take out my money first.
It was the end of 2013, and she assured me that our money would be back after the New Year, but after the New Year, the money was still not back.
I panicked and called her several times, but she went back and forth with the same words, “The money is fine. “I’m sure I can come back” “Even if something really happens, I’ll sell my house and get the money back to you “, but these words I have long been tired of hearing.
Finally she said that she would take me to Handan to meet the owner of the cooperative, so that I could see the owner’s property with my own eyes and feel at ease.
So, Dong Lihua took your father and me, and another one of her clients (I later learned that this client was her husband’s long-time friend), and a few of us took a trip to Handan together.
The owner of the cooperative is Xie Zimei, a very capable middle-aged woman, Dong Lihua showed us her picture, but we didn’t see Xie Zimei on that trip to Handan, only her husband Ding Jianguo, who said that Xie Zimei was on a business trip, so he was the one who received us, and we didn’t suspect that there was something going on here.
In fact, I later learned that Xie Zimei had already run away, the cooperative is her, the first person to be arrested by the police is her, she heard the news and immediately ran away.
That day, Ding Jianguo took us to see their cosmetics factory, saying that the cosmetics named “Peony Garden” is a well-known brand that sells well throughout the country, and also showed us He also showed us his real estate license, saying that if something really happened, the house was sold and was fully sufficient to pay us back, so we could rest assured.
He also said, just a few months, he will return our money to us first, may not be a full return, but divided into 20,000, 30,000 so a lump sum back to play, hope we can give him a buffer time.
The words have come to this point, so a few of us also believe him.
In fact, after this incident, I realized that any promise not on paper contract can not be trusted, right?
But at that time, where we understand this, the county, rural areas simply do not speak of this, now think, in fact, they see this is the poor information, poor Perception, small places habitually feel that “mouth said “is already “is based on”.
I was waiting for Xie Zimei after the arrest only to learn that the factories, properties and brands are actually all in the name of Ding Jianguo, and Xie Zimei’s name only this has been on the verge of collapse of the cooperative, the cooperative suspected of illegal fund-raising, that is, committed a crime, and one of the debts owed by the husband and wife due to crime, is not counted as a joint debt of the couple.
In other words, no matter how much industry and property Ding Jianguo has under his name, legally, it has nothing to do with the business of the cooperative, if he refuses to pay us back, we have no way to force him to pay for Xie Zimei.
I learned all this only later, we are the ordinary people in the county, which can understand the many legal twists and turns, at that time to see his sincere words, very easily believed him.
In fact, for businessmen, “sincerity” is the most worthless thing.
Not long after we returned from Handan, Ding Jianguo was arrested by the police.
Six
The police did not formally arrest Ding Jianguo, but just kept him in the New River Hotel in our county, after all, the co-op was not nominally related to him, and the police controlled him to force Xie Zimei to come out.
As expected, not long after, Xie Zimei rushed back to surrender, she used herself to exchange Ding Jianguo out, Ding Jianguo back to Handan to raise money to pay debts, she was controlled in the New River Hotel.
But even at this point, Xie Zimei is still not formally arrested, which is partly due to procedural considerations, but more pressure from the request of many victims in the cooperative.
As victims of illegal fund raising, they asked the police not to arrest Xie Zimei, the head of the scam, and some even went so far as to petition for his release.
Because they feel that once Xie Zimei is in jail, their money will not be returned, and their goal is not to punish Xie Zimei, but to get their money back.
As long as Xie Zimei is still around, as long as Xie Zimei can continue to operate the cooperative, as long as Xie Zimei can continue to cheat more people, then they still have a chance to get their money back.
This seems to be a ridiculous logic, but it is what most people thought at that time.
But it wasn’t that simple. From the time Xie Zimei was brought under police control, various rumors began to spread.
Some people say that Xie Zimei has long moved all the money abroad, it is impossible to recover it. Some say that the money was lost by the two of them in the casino in Macau.
The most sensational rumor is that her husband Ding Jianguo has been keeping a mistress for so many years, and also had an illegitimate son with the mistress, and this time he actually has no intention of raising money to help Xie Zimei pay off her debts, he just wants to let Xie Zimei be sentenced to jail, and then he and the mistress and illegitimate son will be able to take over all the property.
The family’s property is in his name anyway, if he does not want to pay, no one, no means can force him.
A time of rumors, people are on edge, of course, I am also very panicked, but panic has not helped, we do not know what to do, can only repeatedly ask Dong Lihua.
Dong Lihua is always the same caliber, “the money will definitely be able to return” “Just may be a little slower, but will definitely come back” “capital turnover, the sale of property also need time well “”If the money does not come back, I will sell my house to pay you back”.
These are just a few words that she always repeats nervously back and forth, not knowing if she is comforting us or herself.
I actually vaguely understood at that time, the money is probably not coming back, but I still do not want to admit that this is already a fact, is Dong Lihua’s door to help, so that this matter completely on the ground, a fact.
That night, she came to our house and said she hoped I could help her produce a written proof that the money I put in was invested by me and not through her, so that she would not be considered a salesperson, would not be considered to be involved in illegal fund raising, and would not be considered a crime.
Your father was very angry at the time and pointed at her and said, “Then return the money to us now, and we will give you a certificate immediately.
She knew she was in the wrong and left without saying anything more, until she left, she was still repeating nervously, “The money will come back, the money will definitely come back.
We later learned that her husband’s long-time friend who went to Handan with us at that time also lost a lot of money in it, but that person still gave her a certificate, and fortunately her customers were acquaintances, otherwise she would have been caught in it.
Because at that time Xie Zimei has been officially arrested, many businessmen were also arrested in.
So far, the money is completely rotten in the head.
Seven
At that time, our county and the surrounding counties have arrested a lot of salesmen, there are also a lot of absurd things.
For example, some salesmen, knowing that Xie Zimei had been officially arrested and that the cooperative existed in name only, still tried their best to pull in business, even though they were scolded.
For example, there is a very capable salesman, he found that after pulling people to invest money profitable, they built a small cooperative, specializing in the surrounding villages business, almost the surrounding villages in the farmers’ money sucked up a fine, the final scale of fund-raising actually has three to four million, the money he used to invest in Xie Zimei’s cooperative, Xie Zimei an accident, he was insane crazy at the time.
Not only him, many of the villagers who invested the money are also crazy, they do not understand, they can not think, clearly said the money in the cooperative and the bank is as safe, how can say no on the loss.
Most of these farmers rely on farming to earn money, and they only save tens of thousands of dollars in their lifetime, so how can they not go crazy when they say it’s gone?
I was actually close to going crazy, but I didn’t dare to tell you.
At that time I could not sleep all night long, when I closed my eyes, my head was full of all kinds of things in the past two years, I reflected night and day on what I did wrong, thinking about the money in the end there is no chance to return.
It was hard to fall asleep, and kept having Nightmares in which I was bitten by invisible evil spirits and died over and over again.
I have lived for fifty years, never had such a big loss, I think it is too stupid too stupid, I simply do not know how to face this matter, and do not know how to face this stupid self.
The good thing is that your father and I have a salary, those years just in time for the Education reform, to teachers, principals’ salaries have increased a lot, our family in a few years also slowed down.
But those farmers who are not paid is really not slow over, many families are so scattered, many people are so crazy, how many tragedies come from here, it is really impossible to count.
Investment has risks, everyone knows this, but no one ever told us that this is an investment, we live all our lives in this small county, we do not know “Ponzi scheme” “financial game” these words.
People said the same as in the bank, we believed, people said the interest rate is not high, so there is no risk, we also believed, people said the loss will sell the property to pay us, we certainly believed.
We are acquaintances who meet every day, who would have known that there is such a big hole in it, and who would have thought that you could not keep your word.
How could we have known that this could be considered illegal fund raising? How does this become illegal fund raising? If it is illegal, then why did the state issue them a license and let them open for business? Since the license was issued, shouldn’t the state also be responsible for the final accident?
When something happens, you remember to say that it was risky, that we were ignorant and foolish, that we had it coming, that it was all because we were greedy and so deserved to be unlucky, I think this is still a bit too much, right?
The methods of fraudsters are always updated, and who can guarantee that they will never be cheated in their lifetime?
But these words I do not know who to say, after all, the person who was cheated this time is us, the knife does not cut on their own, of course, it does not hurt, people and people are difficult to understand each other.
Finally, Xie Zimei was sentenced to eight years, Dong Lihua was sentenced to one year, the matter is over here.
Xie Zimei to the end of this year is also released, I have long accepted the fact that the money is impossible to return.
But until this year, I met Dong Lihua on the street again, she is still chanting those words back and forth.
“The money can come back, the money will definitely come back, well, it will definitely come back. “
I don’t know if she was really crazy, or pretending to be crazy.
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