China has put around 200 unsuspecting villagers on its social credit blacklist for apparently missing to pay their loans. However, the mostly uneducated villagers are now claiming that they were actually scammed into signing documents that made it look like they were applying for the loans themselves. According to reports, the total loan taken out by the residents living in Zhangyinzhuang village in Guan County amounted to over US$15 million.
The rural residents reportedly did not realize that the document they had signed was going to be used to apply for a loan. They were apparently made to believe that the document was nothing more than an agreement to have them as guarantors for loans that would be made by their relatives and friends. All of the nearly 200 villagers had received letters from the country's central bank stating that they had lost their social credit privileges due to overdue loan payments. The villagers have also since been pursued by the country's courts for their unpaid debts.
According to police investigators, the document that the villagers had signed was a personal loan contract, which looked very similar to a guarantor agreement. Some villagers who have come forward to seek help claimed that most of them that were victimized had no education and were unaware of how bank loans work. Some have also admitted that they didn't understand the contents of the documents they were signing.
The loans using the villager's signatures were taken out with Liaocheng Runchang Agricultural Commercial Bank. When the incident was being investigated, one of the bank's managers reportedly left his position at the company. Reporters and authorities have since been unable to contact the manager.
A number of the affected villagers have filed cases in court with the help of their relatives. However, all of the cases that were filed had apparently lost. Those who were included in the central bank's social credit blacklist are now unable to buy property or vehicles. All of them are also now unable to avail of other financial services. In some cases, people on the list will also find it hard to travel on trains and airplanes.
Many of the villagers have banded together and have sought the government's help in getting compensation from the bank. Authorities have so far launched an investigation into the matter. The bank has so far been cooperative with the investigation. The company had even asked the local credit bureau to remove some of the villagers from the social credit blacklist. A number of the villager's loans have also been cleared, while others are still under review.
