Gamblers tied up in black credit

In front of Vimarn casino, near the Xa Xia border gate in Kien Giang Province, there was always a staff member sitting by the table with a sign “Pawnbroker – every VND1,000,000 borrowed, VND10,000/day interest” (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

Wed, February 8, 2012
Tuoi Tre (Hanoi)

In addition to offering loans at an unbelievably high rates, and accepting pledges, some bosses even allow gamblers to offer their lives as collateral at a price of thousands of US dollars.

Along with the busy casinos springing up on the Cambodian side of Cambodia at the border, on the Vietnamese side are hosts of hot loan providers and pawnbrokers, dragging gamblers into a vicious cycle from which there is no exit.

“10 days to pay or your collateral gone”

Phan, a middleman, has brokered deals for pawn shops and hot loan providers for over five years.

In Chau Doc Town of An Giang Province, “there are numerous covert and sign-less pawn shops, where many people go because of their high valuation of goods and reasonable interest rates of about 21percent a month. The majority of customers are people who are about to go gambling or have just lost a great deal over the border”.

In the run-up to the Lunar New Year, gamblers flocked to Go market casino in Cambodia’s Ta Keo Province which boosted the pawnbroker business.

Interest rates were as high as they could be. A great deal of people from many places such as An Giang, Kien Giang, Can Tho offered their motorbikes as collateral.

Those who lost at casinos were approached by middlemen offering hot loans and pawnbroker deals, so that the losers could try their luck again.

Right at each casino, there were lots of middlemen and a web of pawn shops with varying interest rates. Some places even accepted motorbikes without registration documents as pledges.

In front of Vimarn casino, near the Xa Xia border gate in Kien Giang Province, there was always a staff member sitting by the table with a sign “Pawnbroker – every VND1,000,000 borrowed, VND10,000/day interest”.

Yet when a customer approached to offer a motorbike as collateral, the man said in a happy tone, “Four million for this, VND20,000/million/day. You have ten days to pay or your item will be gone!”.

Hot loan with life as collateral

Late every afternoon, Ty’s hot loan desk close to the Grand Dragon casino near Khanh Binh border gate at An Giang Province, is packed with gamblers paying their interest.

Regular customers pay Ty an interest of VND100,000/10 million/day, around 30 percent a month.

In addition to offering hot loans, Ty is also a pawnbroker’s guru, holding valuable goods as collateral such as cars, land, gold, and jewelry.

A gambler says there is no way to escape from paying Ty once you have borrowed from her. Late payments only result in increased interest.

These hot loan bosses are very wary of people who skip payments. At Ha Tien Vegas casino, the boss, Tinh, was offering new gamblers, “flexible loans depending on [their] status and budget, but interest rates are around 30% for three days, or 300% a month”.

He asserted that not only he, but also others, were aiming at gamblers from Vietnam. Tinh said customers usually borrowed tens of thousands of US dollars, or at least a few hundred million dong.

However, with such high rates, gamblers usually have to get around to paying their debts back soon or they will be dealt with by gangsters.

In addition to offering loans at an unbelievably high rates, and accepting pledges, some bosses even allow gamblers to offer their lives as collateral at a price of thousands of US dollars.

A famous story, which took place at the end of 2011, of a gambler named Nguyen Huu Tinh, from Long An Province is still retold by gamblers in the border area of Vietnam’s Mekong Delta.

The famous gambler was only 18 years old, but had twice used his life as a pledge to play at Bavet casino, opposite the Moc Bai border gate, in Tay Ninh Province.

The first time, Tinh got US$2,000 to use his life as collateral, but subsequently lost and fled. The second time, Tinh got $3,000, planning to reclaim what he had lost.

Unfortunately, he lost it all and was caught by his creditor, who demanded a ransom from his family.

Tinh’s family refused. Later, half of his little finger was chopped off and sent home as a warning.

In August 2011, another gambler from Long An, named Do Thanh Cong was “dealt with” after failing to pay for his life.

This created widespread concern over the situation, where Vietnamese gamblers use their lives as pledges to play in Cambodian casinos.

Cong was unable to pay $2,000 and was imprisoned and beaten by his creditor in Cambodia. Afterwards, he jumped from a great height to end his own life. His body was thrown into the river.