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In the city of Iskitim, Novosibirsk Region, collectors attacked the family of a woman who used a microloan but was unable to pay off her debt on time, the website of the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office reports.
The attackers, according to investigators, robbed the debtor and “committed violent sexual acts with her.”
“According to the victim, the attackers stole a mobile phone and demanded the return of 240 thousand rubles. to pay off the loan (in 2015, she used the services of the company “Money immediately”, having received 5 thousand rubles, but was unable to repay the debt). Then the attackers beat the husband and child of the landlady, after which they committed violent acts of a sexual nature with her, ”the Prosecutor General’s message said.
The investigating authorities opened a criminal case under part 3 of article 162 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (robbery committed with penetration into the home), the investigation of the criminal case was taken under control by the prosecutor’s office of the Novosibirsk region.
The prosecutor’s office notes that this criminal case received a “special public outcry”. Earlier in March, Bloomberg in its analytical article described the Russian collection market as a “return to the Middle Ages.”
Agency experts concluded that microfinance institution borrowers (MFIs) are increasingly facing violent debt collection methods in the face of declining household incomes. The problem began to be actively discussed in society after a collector threw a Molotov cocktail into a house for a debt of 4 thousand rubles, resulting in a 56-year-old man and two-year-old child who suffered from the fire. The loan amount was small, but the interest on the loan was 10 times the size of the loan.
Bloomberg noted that collectors often put pressure on debtors by tracking them near apartments, painting walls in porches and personal cars of debtors and committing other illegal actions. An example was the case when a married couple from Novosibirsk came across messages from friends that unidentified persons distributed photographs of their young child and allegedly a message from their mother about their willingness to engage in prostitution to pay off a loan. The family borrowed 15 thousand rubles from a microfinance organization, but the interest on the loan turned out to be unbearable for the family.
As RBC previously wrote, according to the data of the Joint Credit Bureau, in 2015 the overdue debts of Russian banks grew by 48%, from 775 billion to 1.15 trillion rubles. Moreover, the largest share (62%) in arrears is in cash loans – 709 billion rubles. In second place are credit card debts (21%, 242 billion rubles). On the third – a mortgage (11%, 132 billion rubles).
The Russian government approved a draft new law on collectors, among the authors of which are speakers of the State Duma and Federation Council Sergei Naryshkin and Valentina Matvienko. The bill has already been submitted to the Duma. In an explanatory note, facts of “semi-gangster” activity of collectors were also given to him. “There are frequent cases of the use of physical violence – news feeds are full of reports about the beating of citizens (sometimes even their pets) by collectors. There are other cases – collectors paint the walls in the entrances, try to illegally enter the debtors’ homes and seize property in order to pay off the overdue debt. Moreover, sometimes these actions are committed against citizens who did not take loans, ”the document said.
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