Steel traders held for credit card fraud
Print Edition
MORE than 40 steel traders have been held by police in Songjiang District this year in connection with credit card frauds, following a downturn in their industry.
Entrepreneurs who had previously enjoyed lucrative livelihoods are said to have turned to fraud when faced with cashflow problems.
Staff at a Songjiang bank contacted police last month to report that a credit card customer surnamed Zhang owed hundreds of thousands yuan and could not be contacted.
“He applied for a credit card with a limit of 400,000 yuan (US$64,000) a month but failed to pay for several months,” said a bank staff member.
Zhang, a steel trader from southeastern province Fujian who came to Shanghai in 2008 to start his business, was soon found by police.
Officers said Zhang told them that, “the steel market in China at that time was booming and traders could make money even with their eyes closed.”
Zhang rode this wave, expanding his business with loans borrowed at high interest rates.
But around 2012 the market changed as infrastructure construction and real estate growth subsided and many steel traders found they had overreached.
Unable to pay loans, Zhang applied for a credit card as an entrepreneur from a bank, which allowed him to spend up to 400,000 yuan every month.
According to police, he found accomplices online who conducted fake transactions on point of sale machines, giving the cash to Zhang and taking a commission.
Zhang spent the money on daily expenses and paying off old debts.
When his company stopped trading he told the bank that it was still running, in order to retain his high credit status, said police.
Later, he allegedly changed his telephone number so the bank could no longer contact him.
Zhang has been detained for credit card fraud, said police.
Some 5 million yuan was retrieved for banks from the 40 or so steel traders held this year, said officers.
Police also urged banks to issue credit cards more responsibly.
One steel trader had eight credit cards with a total monthly limit of 1 million yuan, said officers.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
