Russians are wary of consumer cooperatives. And this is no coincidence: scandals from the time of the financial pyramids have still remained in the memory of citizens who lost all their savings in a few days. The activities of the CCP from Tyumen are proof of this. The network has a lot of negative reviews about the Tyumen Savings Fund. Deceived investors have been trying to regain savings since 2017.
KPC "Tyumen Savings Fund": features of activity
A financial institution from Tyumen has been providing services to Russian citizens since 2010. The cooperative’s activity consisted of drawing up agreements with clients on opening deposit accounts and issuing borrowed funds. When making a deposit, the client automatically became a shareholder of the CCP.
To get a consumer loan on favorable terms from the Tyumen Savings Fund, you first had to become a shareholder of the company. For this, the client had to deposit 100 rubles for membership and another 100 as a mandatory contribution of the shareholder.
Glory to the "Tyumen Savings Fund" brought deposits at a high percentage. In the best years of its activity, the cooperative offered shareholders to invest personal savings and get up to 29% per annum for this. By such conditions in 2012-2016. not a single bank of Russia could boast. The average percentage on deposits with banks at that time did not exceed 10% per annum.
According to reviews, the Tyumen Savings Fund attracted customers precisely through deposit programs. Cooperative loans were not so profitable: rates reached 30-40% per annum. But almost all CCP shareholders received approval.
Reviews on attracting shareholders
The policy of a credit cooperative from Tyumen cannot be called aggressive. Customers were attracted mainly through advertising in the media.
According to reviews of the Tyumen Savings Fund, it was possible to conclude an agreement only at the offices of the CCP. Without a preliminary payment of a membership fee or depositing money on a deposit, the client could not become a shareholder. This ruled out the possibility of involuntary joining the ranks of customers of the cooperative.
Addresses of the branches of the CPC "Tyumen Savings Fund"
Despite its geographical name, the cooperative represented its activities in several regions at the same time. The Tyumen Savings Fund in Tyumen was the largest. Branches were also located in Tobolsk, Ishim, Surgut, Nefteyugansk, Khanty-Mansiysk.
Co-op branch addresses:
- Tyumen, st. Republic, 156, office 18;
- Tyumen, Malygina St., 14;
- Tobolsk, 8 microdistrict. 28, office 111;
- Ishim city, st. K. Marx, 1a;
- Surgut, st. 30 years of Victory, 19, office 112;
- Nefteyugansk, 2 microdistrict, 32 house, office 106;
- Khanty-Mansiysk, Gagarina street, 65, office 101.
What happened to the co-op?
The financial activities of KPC, like any organization in the Russian market, are directly related to the risk of bankruptcy. Despite the long-term activity (more than 7 years), in 2017 all the offices of a credit cooperative, not only in Tyumen, but also in other cities, unexpectedly closed.
According to reviews, in Tobolsk, the Tyumen Savings Fund closed very first. Investors were not aware of the existence of financial problems. The event was a shock to hundreds of deceived Russians in several cities.
The first to know the problems of the CCP were those who decided to personally visit offices in Tobolsk and Tyumen. But a surprise was already waiting for the investors: a message suddenly appeared on the branch’s door about the closure of the cooperative. August 2017 brought disappointment to CCP shareholders and puzzled how and where to return their savings.
Is it possible to return savings from a bankrupt cooperative?
When the bank goes bankrupt, depositors rush to return the investment to the "Deposit Insurance Agency". The state organization is the insurer of all major banking units of Russia. But with the bankruptcy of the CCP, it is becoming more and more complicated.
According to the law "On Credit Cooperation" dated July 18, 2009 No. 190-, payments to shareholders of a bankrupt cooperative must be made by SROs (Self-Regulated Organizations), which included the CPC. Until September 12, 2017, the branches of the Tyumen Savings Fund were under financial guardianship in the SRO of the ISCC “Support for Cooperation”. After exclusion from the list of a self-regulatory organization, depositors cannot rely on the return of insurance sums from the “Support of Cooperation”.
Receiving payments is complicated by the fact of a criminal case under art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Fraud". During the consideration of numerous complaints from deceived citizens, the activities of the CCP in 2017 were declared illegal. A criminal investigation is underway into fraud and the irrational credit policy that led to the deliberate bankruptcy of the CCP.
But this does not mean that shareholders can forget about their investments. A refund is possible, but only the process will take a long time. The term of return depends on when the litigation ends.
Activities of former customers
Those who are left without their investments and interest are actively trying to return the savings. Former contributors to the infamous cooperative from Tyumen applied to police departments and prosecutors. Based on the results of the appeals, criminal cases were instituted in each region. The main business is conducted in Tyumen, at the location of the head branch of the credit consumer cooperative.
Mostly former customers leave reviews about KPC Tyumen Savings Fund. They describe in detail how they had to lose their savings. But clients are not idle: in Tyumen, former shareholders organize meetings and authorized rallies. At them, they discuss with each other the details of the investigation, make assumptions about the timing of payments and share information.
Information in the media about the case of the Tyumen Savings Fund
According to reviews of the Tyumen Savings Fund, the media in Tyumen have more than once slipped information about the current state of finances of former shareholders. The CCP case has become one of the most high-profile and scandalous in the region.
The Tyumen Savings Fund in Surgut also made a lot of noise: more than 150 shareholders were left without funds. Newspapers were full of headlines about the next financial pyramid, and investors turned to wherever possible to get their money back.
Sadly, the CCP’s case from Tyumen is not the only one in Russia. A similar situation occurred with the Ural Savings Fund. The financial company just as suddenly "collapsed", and investors were left with nothing. According to URA.RU, the branch of the Ural Savings Fund closed at the end of June 2017 (almost simultaneously with the branches of the Tyumen Savings Fund).
But if an investigation is underway in the case of a cooperative from Tyumen, then CCP clients from the Urals had to face numerous refusals to initiate criminal proceedings. The prosecutor's office of the Sverdlovsk region refused 149 applications from clients. According to the feedback of the shareholders, the employees of the bodies did not find evidence of the existence of a crime.
After 2 years, the cases were still instituted after repeated appeals by clients and their lawyers. Employees of the authorities in their reviews of the Tyumen Savings Fund admitted that, most likely, the leadership of the CCP from Tyumen and the Urals is the same, and the companies opened and closed in order to profit from the reorganization.
Address of shareholders to the President
According to journalists, some of the clients even wrote to President V.V. Putin. For example, in her appeal (based on reviews of the Tyumen Savings Fund from Ishim), which is posted on the Web, the investor desperately asks for the return of “coffin money”. The client describes how she was surprised at the unexpected bankruptcy of the cooperative on August 8, 2017. On this day, the woman was going to terminate the deposit agreement and collect the accumulated funds.
But the branch’s doors were closed, and outside there was information about renting the office. According to the shareholder, the clients were unaware of the existence of financial problems in the cooperative. For 10 years, depositors regularly received interest and were satisfied with the activities of the CCP.
A financial pyramid or an unfortunate combination of circumstances?
Information about the closure of the fund was a shock to citizens. And most of all, they are horrified by the fact that their contributions at the time of the close of the CCP were not insured. Therefore, the cashback process is delayed for years. Some customers are already desperate to regain their savings.
It is known that the majority of shareholders of the consumer cooperative were pensioners, the most vulnerable and trusting part of the country's population. They carried money to the CCP that they had been raising for a long time for children, grandchildren, or for a worthy funeral. After the mysterious bankruptcy of the Tyumen Savings Fund, they had to lose everything that had been collected in recent months or years.
But why, after the notorious experience of financial pyramids in the 90s, Russians continue to believe in unimaginable income? Not only those who had to face bankruptcy face to face, but also prosecutors are trying to answer this question.