Chinese loan shark who charged 8,550% interest jailed for 33 months

Wang Yun Tao, 37, was found guilty of "committing usury in civil transactions" by the Da Nang City People's Court on Wednesday.

It also ordered his deportation from Vietnam at the end of his sentence.

Luong Minh Thu, 30, of Ho Chi Minh City, one of his henchmen, was sentenced to three years while 33 others received jail terms ranging from six to 21 months.

According to the indictment, at the end of 2023 the Da Nang Police received complaints about loan sharking via the "Oi Vay" and "Vdong" apps with interest rates of up to 30% for 21 days.

They launched an investigation, raided the suspects' workplaces and residences and seized a slew of documents indicating usurious lending, leading to the arrest of Wang.

The Chinese national arrived in Vietnam in 2018 and managed loans through three apps, Yoloan being the other.

He hired locals and registered shell companies in their names, creating multiple lending and debt collection systems.

The annual interest rates ranged from 121.67% to 1,095%, exceeding the highest government-regulated rates by up to 6,154 times.

On overdue loans, borrowers had to pay interest of 183.77-8,554% or 6.1 to 285.2 times the maximum allowed by law.

But despite these exorbitant rates, many people with urgent needs borrowed from Wang's gang due to simple procedures and rapid disbursement.

Wang was identified as personally running the system through his assistant and interpreter, Luong Minh Thu, who was also responsible for human resources and debt collection.

Thu started working with Wang from the early stages and had himself earned VND2 billion.

The total loans Wang gave exceeded VND6.76 trillion, while collections were nearly VND7.982 trillion.