Protests Erupt in China Over Bank Scam as Anger Simmers

Описание: Police in China say they’ve taken more people into custody over a suspected billion-dollar financial scam as protests involving bank customers erupted for at least the third time, highlighting the difficulty authorities are having resolving the matter.

“The public security organs have recently arrested a group of criminal suspects, and sealed up, seized, and frozen funds and assets involved in the case in accordance with the law,” police in Xuchang, in the central province of Henan, said in a statement on Sunday, without giving details on who was detained.

Videos circulating online show protesters at a branch of the People’s Bank of China in nearby Zhengzhou, a city of some 10 million people, charged by a column of people who appear to be plainclothes officers. The demonstrators hurl water bottles, tussles break out, and at least one person is kicked and tackled. Another clip shows protesters holding up signs and shouting: “Return my money.”

The large demonstration was unusual for China, but the situation doesn’t appear to be getting beyond the control of authorities for now. The latest protest -- like ones on May 23 and again on June 26-27 -- involved hundreds of people, with police officers at the scene nearly matching that level.

Richard McGregor, author of the “The Party: The Secret World of China’s Communist Rulers,” said in a tweet about the Sunday protest that the plainclothes officers were “all highly trained,” saying their response illustrated “a good glimpse into the vast and often hidden security apparatus on hand when the system requires them.”

The provincial banking regulator said Sunday that it was speeding up the process of verifying client information at the four banks and would soon release a plan to resolve the risks.

The series of protests has involved hundreds of people demanding the return of deposits worth up to tens of billions of yuan. A probe by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission has found that Henan Xincaifu Group Investment Holding Co., a private investment firm with stakes in the four lenders, colluded with bank employees to illicitly attract public funds via online platforms.

Police in Xuchang said in June they arrested suspects linked to Henan Xincaifu Group, again without giving details on who was detained. Authorities in Zhengzhou later punished five officials for changing the health codes of more than 1,300 customers of the banks to red, a step that prevented them from entering public places or riding public transport.


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