The female net loan of 5000,4 yuan "rolled" into 550.<> million in <> months, does this money have to be repaid? How much more?

Text/Zhao Bin

In just a few months, from a loan of 5000,550 yuan to a debt of 26.<> million yuan, <>-year-old Ms. Zhang was deeply caught in the turmoil of "naked loans" and almost committed suicide. This is the victim's experience in the latest routine loan case cracked by the Shaoxing police in Zhejiang Province.

"Naked loan" and "routine loan" are not new terms, and their living space is shrinking as the country's crackdown on governance continues to increase. But under greed, there are always people who try the law by example, and there are always people who take risks.

In Ms. Zhang's case, the 5000,4 yuan loan "rolled" into a huge amount of 550.<> million yuan in <> months. How are the legal responsibilities of the parties defined?

Can illegal usury not be repaid?

According to media reports, the police handling Ms. Zhang's case said that her initial loan of 5000,5 yuan was repaid after 300 days, with interest of 1500 yuan per day, and a total interest of 3500,<> yuan was deducted in advance, and the actual amount was only <>,<> yuan.

According to Article 25 of the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Private Lending Cases, the people's court shall support a lender's request that the borrower pay interest at the interest rate agreed in the contract, unless the interest rate agreed upon by both parties exceeds four times the market quotation rate of the one-year loan at the time of the formation of the contract.

In an interview with China News Service, Mr. Tan, who is in charge of credit work at a bank, said that this means that the maximum annualized interest rate of private lending is four times the maximum loan interest rate of the bank at the time of the conclusion of the loan contract. As for the "beheading interest" in which the lender directly deducts the agreed interest when lending, it is a prohibited illegal operation.

The first loan of the 5-day period soon expired, and Ms. Zhang, who was addicted to online gambling, could not repay it, so she proposed to the routine loan gang to borrow in the same form. The other party recommended the so-called "bridge loan" to Ms. Zhang, that is, borrowing 1,5000 yuan, only 24,1 yuan, and required to borrow on the same day, repay the next day, and repay <>,<> yuan in <> hours.

According to the police, during the second "bridge loan", the suspect asked Ms. Zhang to send a video of the loan holding her ID card and nude photos to successfully borrow the loan. In this way, Ms. Zhang fell step by step into the routine laid down by the criminal gang, using "bridge borrowing" to borrow and maintain loans.

In four months, Ms. Zhang signed an IOU of up to 4.550 million yuan, and after deducting the "beheading interest", she actually received more than 200 million yuan, which was also mainly used to fill the "huge hole" generated by the initial loan of 5000,2000 yuan. According to calculations, the annualized interest rate of Ms. Zhang's loan has exceeded <>,<>%.

Wang Ruhua, a doctor of law from China University of Political Science and Law and a full-time lawyer at Beijing Jingshi Law Firm, said in an interview with China News Service that under normal circumstances, the principal of private loans must be repaid, but when the agreed interest exceeds the statutory standard, the excess part can not be paid. The part that has been paid in excess of the statutory interest standard can be offset against the principal or interest that has not yet been paid off, and those who have paid off the principal and interest can claim the return of the overpaid interest.

"Naked loans" are hugely risky and have endless consequences

After investigation, the police found that because Ms. Zhang was unable to repay her arrears of up to 550.<> million yuan, the lending gang frequently used nude photos to intimidate her and sent the photos to her relatives and friends. Under the "bombardment" in turns, Ms. Zhang's mental state became worse and worse, and she was diagnosed as "moderate depression" by the hospital, and repeatedly showed running away from home, jumping off buildings, and suicidal tendencies.

Zhang Ming, a partner and lawyer at Beijing Jingshi Law Firm, said in an interview with China News Service that there are three types of methods used by "naked loan" lending gangs:

First, threaten the borrower with nude photos or videos to repay the loan as soon as possible. If the nude photo is only sent to the person for reminder of the principal and interest that meets the national standard, the nude photo will be returned or deleted after repayment, and no other adverse effects will be caused in the process, and it will generally not be treated as a crime; However, if the repayment of interest exceeding the national standard is required and reaches a certain amount, distinguishing between different situations may constitute the crime of collecting illegal debts or the crime of extortion.

Second, after the nude photo or video threat fails, post the nude photo or video on the network. Depending on the circumstances, it may constitute the crime of "insult" and the "crime of disseminating obscene materials".

Third, when the borrower is unable to repay, he uses nude photos or videos as a threat to force sexual relations with the borrower to "offset" the loan, which constitutes the crime of rape.

It is important to note that even if the borrower successfully pays off the "naked loan" arrears, the hidden risks are far from being resolved.

Zhang Ming said that even after the victim has paid off the principal and interest, the naked loan gang may still use nude photos or videos to blackmail the borrower to force the borrower to engage in some illegal and criminal activities. As a result, some young people are forced to pursue the path of crime and social harm.

Borrowing money to gamble, who bears the debts of the gambling funds?

Ms. Zhang, who owed a "huge debt" in this case, was addicted to online gambling. What should be done with the funds used for gambling?

Zhang Ming believes that gambling debts are not protected, but if there is no evidence to prove that the suspect gang knowingly lent funds for gambling, Ms. Zhang needs to repay the principal and repay the interest according to the loan agreement not exceeding the legal interest rate of the state's private loans. If there is no evidence that the funds were illegally obtained by the suspect, the money belongs to the suspect in the case.

If the funds lost by Ms. Zhang participating in online gambling can be recovered, they must also be confiscated. At the same time, those who operate online gambling platforms and solicit gamblers for the platform may be suspected of the crime of opening casinos. Therefore, in the routine loan case involving Ms. Zhang, those who organized gambling and opened casinos could not escape justice.

According to Zhang Ming, if the gambling participant does not constitute a crime, he may be detained for up to five days or fined up to 500 yuan; where the circumstances are serious, they shall be detained for not less than 10 days but not more than 15 days, and shall also be fined between 500 and 3,000 yuan; Whoever constitutes the crime of gambling shall, in accordance with Article 303 of the Criminal Law, gather a crowd to gamble or gamble for the purpose of profit, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or surveillance, and a fine.