Henan's jewelry tycoon collapses after venturing into finance
In September 2020, Xinrongji suddenly faced a risk explosion. Both the borrowing enterprises and Xinrongji suddenly lost their payment capabilities. This financial platform, which boasted numerous accolades, collapsed. The amount involved in the case exceeded 22 billion yuan, tearing open a long - hidden financial scandal that had persisted for over a decade. Nian Yong'an, who was once extremely prosperous, was arrested and is still awaiting judgment.
In the 1980s, Nian Yong'an was an individual business operator. After 28 years of hard work, he grew his business and became the "Jewelry King" with an annual sales volume exceeding 1.4 billion yuan. He also owned a local top - tier financial platform worth tens of billions. Eventually, he ended up in prison.
Recently, the first - instance judgment for his gang (26 people) found them guilty of four major crimes: illegal absorption of public deposits, fundraising fraud, loan fraud, and fraudulently obtaining loans. They were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 2 to 13 years. As the principal offender, Nian Yong'an will be dealt with separately and is awaiting his own judgment.
This incident took place in Luoyang, Henan. The protagonist is Nian Yong'an, who was a well - known "Jewelry King" and "Financial Tycoon" in the local area for 20 consecutive years. In October 2020, he also participated in the fifth - anniversary celebration of the graduation of Class C9 at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business as an alumnus.
He was extremely glorious at that time. Who would have thought that just one year later, he would be arrested on suspicion of misappropriating funds. His business empire was left as an empty shell, and its collapse was just a matter of time.
The "Jewelry King" Fell from Grace: Cross - Border Financing Led to a Prison Sentence
Recently, Nian Yong'an and his gang (26 people) were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 2 to 13 years in the first - instance trial for illegal absorption of public deposits, fundraising fraud, loan fraud, and fraudulently obtaining loans.
Nian Yong'an's main external identities were the boss of two business sectors: jewelry business and financial business. The principal companies were Luoyang Jinxin Group and Xinrongji Investment Guarantee Co., Ltd. Under his banner, there were financing companies, guarantee companies, and a financial supermarket specifically for small and medium - sized enterprises.
In the cases of loan fraud and fraudulently obtaining loans they were involved in, local banks in Henan suffered the most. The worst - hit was Luoyang Rural Commercial Bank, with an accumulated loss of 1.163 billion yuan.
The judgment shows that from 2014 to 2021, Nian Yong'an instructed the above - mentioned personnel to use multiple companies such as Jinxin Group, Xinrongji Guarantee, and Xinrongji Financial Holding Company as loan subjects. They provided false financial statements, purchase and sales contracts, and other loan materials to banks such as Luoyang Rural Commercial Bank, fabricated loan purposes, and fraudulently obtained loans from the business department, financial department, Zhongzhou Sub - branch, Jianxi Sub - branch, Luolong Sub - branch, Free Trade Zone Science and Technology Sub - branch of Luoyang Rural Commercial Bank, as well as Henan Songxian Rural Commercial Bank, Mengjin Rural Commercial Bank, and Luoning Rural Commercial Bank on multiple occasions. The loans were mainly used to repay the principal and interest of loans of the above - mentioned companies and affiliated companies in banks and other borrowings, and to pay off the principal and interest of public deposits illegally absorbed by affiliated companies.
Moreover, when they were unable to repay the loans upon maturity, they continued to borrow new loans to repay old ones in the above - mentioned way or used the funds from illegally absorbed public deposits to repay the loans to fabricate the ability to repay loans and continued to fraudulently obtain loans. The above - mentioned loans caused a total loss of 1.23094205 billion yuan to the banks.
The method of loan fraud was very primitive. For example, Zhou, Nian Yong'an's driver, was registered as the nominal legal representative of Luoyang Xinshang Trading Co., Ltd. and Luoyang Sanqi Building Decoration Engineering Co., Ltd. From 2015 to 2018, in the name of these two companies, he signed for loans from the Jianxi Sub - branch and Songxian Sub - branch of Luoyang Rural Commercial Bank and easily obtained 50 million yuan in loans.
Most of his 26 - member gang used this method to defraud loans. Poor Luoyang Rural Commercial Bank, which had an asset total of only 44.477 billion yuan and a net profit of only 109 million yuan in 2020. It lost 1.163 billion yuan in this single case, which meant years of hard work in vain.
However, defrauding the bank was just a small part. Defrauding the common people was the major part.
According to the official website, Henan Xinrongji Financial Holding Co., Ltd. is a financial holding company established in 2006 with a guiding fund of 10 million yuan from the Luoyang Municipal People's Government, participation from Luoyang Newspaper Media Group, and participation from well - known enterprises in regions such as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Zhejiang. It was listed on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations (the "New Third Board") on April 30, 2015, and was the first comprehensive financial holding company on the New Third Board.
Regardless of which board it was, it was a listed company. Nian Yong'an was the boss of a listed company, and Jinxin Group also had a great reputation in the local area.
So, Nian Yong'an successfully deceived the common people into investing their money with him as a form of financial management, promising high interest rates. In fact, it was all a scheme of borrowing new money to repay old debts. There was a 70 - year - old man in the local area who started to invest his savings and the money raised from relatives and friends in Nian Yong'an's companies since 2008. After receiving regular dividends, he reinvested the dividends in the companies. When the companies collapsed and were unable to make payments, he had invested more than 4 million yuan in total. After deducting the dividends he had received, his actual loss exceeded 1 million yuan.
The judgment shows that from January 2014 to October 2021, Nian Yong'an (to be dealt with separately) violated the national financial management laws and regulations through these two companies. He used the safety of funds, high - interest rates, regular repayment of principal and interest, and guaranteed compensation as baits, and publicly promoted to the society through media, leaflets, word - of - mouth, etc. Affiliated companies or company employees were used as borrowing subjects, and public deposits were illegally absorbed by borrowing from the general public. The absorbed funds were used by Nian Yong'an and the companies he controlled.
During these seven years, a total of 22.131 billion yuan of public deposits were illegally absorbed. By the time the case was exposed in 2021, 1.325 billion yuan of principal had not been refunded. After deducting the interest that had been paid, the actual loss was 535 million yuan. In addition, 26 employees of Nian Yong'an's company were also involved in fundraising fraud, causing a cumulative actual loss of more than 130 million yuan.
Before the collapse of this jewelry + finance empire, Nian Yong'an was the most inspiring big boss in the local area.
Started from Gold Mining: The Fall of the Once "Most Inspiring Big Boss"
In the 1980s, as soon as Nian Yong'an reached adulthood, he left school to enter society. First, he set up a street stall to sell socks and also engaged in the wholesale of lighters. Later, with the help of local connections, he contracted a store to do the wholesale business of children's clothing and also contracted a vegetable wholesale store. He was among the earlier group of individual business operators in Henan.
After several years of primitive accumulation, he cooperated with others to mine gold and obtained his first pot of gold.
In October 1997, Jinxin Group was established. Initially, it only had a 200 - square - meter jewelry store. Nian Yong'an suddenly became the general manager of Luoyang Asia - America Jinxin Jewelry Co., Ltd.
This man was very good at doing business. He established a gold and jewelry after - sales service center, which provided free cleaning, repair, and trade - in services for customers. A couple bought a diamond ring worth 18,000 yuan. The next year, due to financial difficulties, they wanted to return the ring and voluntarily proposed to return it at a 20% discount. Without a second thought, Nian Yong'an refunded the full price, saying, "I'd rather lose ten thousand taels of gold than let down the customers' hearts." In this way, Jinxin Jewelry had a very good reputation in the local area.
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"In the early days of founding Jinxin Jewelry, I formulated a 20 - year development plan: take the path of franchise chains, occupy the Luoyang market in 3 years, then occupy the Henan market in 10 years, and then enter the national market. Use 20 years to achieve the dream of Jinxin Jewelry - to build the Walmart of the Chinese jewelry industry..." In this way, Nian Yong'an became the "Jewelry King" in Luoyang and even made bold statements about entering the national market.
In 2014, "Jinxin Jewelry" had spread across Henan, with an annual sales revenue of over 1.4 billion yuan. It had 17 stores, with a total operating area of over 20,000 square meters.
Why couldn't he realize his national jewelry dream? Because he chose a shortcut.
Since 2006, Nian Yong'an started to cross - border from jewelry to finance.
On September 15, 2006, Xinrongji Investment Guarantee Co., Ltd. was officially established. The registered capital was 40 million yuan, of which the Luoyang Municipal Government contributed 10 million yuan.
Once he got into the finance business, the money came in very quickly! Nian Yong'an's main focus shifted to financial business.
In 2007, Xinrongji initiated the establishment of the Luoyang Urban - Rural Credit Association and created the "Three Platforms and One Association" financing model. This model was favored by the China Development Bank, piloted in Luoyang, and promoted nationwide.
In August 2012, Xinrongji integrated multiple guarantee companies and began to operate in a group - based and cross - regional manner. The registered capital increased to 530 million yuan.
In May 2014, the registered capital of Xinrongji Investment Guarantee Co., Ltd. increased to 1 billion yuan.
Not to mention, in May 2015, Xinrongji was officially listed on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations, landing on the New Third Board. By then, the registered capital had increased to 1.639 billion yuan.
Anyone would get carried away when their business expands so rapidly.
After making money, Nian Yong'an also wanted fame and influence. He was keen on making donations and high - profilely attending various activities.
In May 2003, he donated 100,000 yuan through the "Spring Bud Program" to support poor students in Yiyang County.
In October 2004, he donated 300,000 yuan for school construction in Luoyang New Area.
In August 2006, he donated 110,000 yuan to support 36 poor college students in Jianxi District and Yiyang County, Luoyang City.
In September 2007, he donated 110,000 yuan to the "Cohesion Project" in Yiyang County.
In 2008, after the "5·12" Wenchuan Earthquake in Sichuan, Nian Yong'an unhesitatingly donated 330,000 yuan.
On August 26, 2008, he contributed 200,000 yuan to support 70 poor college students in Yiyang County and 23 in Jianxi District.
In 2009, Nian Yong'an donated 430,000 yuan to poor college students in Yiyang County, Ruyang County, Jianxi District and other places...
On the afternoon of December 26, 2009, Mr. Nian Yong'an, the chairman of Luoyang Jinxin Group Co., Ltd., was appointed as a part - time professor at the MBA Education Center of Henan University of Science and Technology. A few days later, he donated 5 million yuan to establish the first non - public - offering love education fund in Henan.
Looking back, his loan fraud and illegal fundraising started in 2014. At that time, he had both fame and fortune and was approaching the listing. He was expanding the scale faster and larger and simply couldn't stop.
Collapsed Overnight Despite Numerous Accolades: Who Will Fill the 22 - Billion - Yuan Financial Black Hole?
Before the explosion of the risk, Nian Yong'an and his group were extremely glorious. They claimed to have provided over 100 billion yuan in guarantee financing, created more than 60,000 jobs, and contributed more than 20 billion yuan in taxes and profits to the local area. Nian Yong'an had won many official honors such as provincial labor model and municipal advanced individual in integrity. He had been an Olympic torchbearer, and his enterprise had won provincial, municipal, and central - level financial rewards for ten consecutive years, becoming a model project for serving the real economy in the local area.
However, in September 2020, Xinrongji suddenly faced a risk explosion. Both the borrowing enterprises and Xinrongji suddenly lost their payment capabilities. This financial platform, which boasted numerous accolades, collapsed. The amount involved in the case exceeded 22 billion yuan, tearing open a long - hidden financial scandal that had persisted for over a decade.
Before the explosion of the risk, Nian Yong'an didn't just sit back and do nothing.
In June 2020, Xinrongji held a mobilization meeting for the "Hurricane Action" and announced, "Sound the charge for the 'Collection Storm' of non - performing loans, inspire the 'collection army' with high morale and full passion, and officially declare war on the 'deadbeats' who evade and default on their debts to Xinrongji."
Finally, people found that all these were just for show. Many of his 2