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Author | Zheng Li

Source | Unicorn Finance

Nine months after the collapse of Huaruan New Power Private Equity FOF, the bizarre incident of "the 1.252 billion yuan deposit of Youce Investment deposited in Chang'an Bank disappeared", the underlying asset of the private equity fund industry, has once again attracted attention.

According to the Daily Economic News,April 2019 to May 2023,Private equity firm Zhejiang Youce Investment Management Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Excellent Investment）Signed the "Agreement Deposit Contract" with Chang'an Bank, and deposited the funds raised from the three products "Youce Changshi", "Youce Changxiu" and "Youce Yueyueying No. 3" into the private equity fund accounts of Chang'an Bank Baoji Jinling Branch and Chang'an Bank Baoji Technology Branch.The 2023 annual report disclosed by relevant products shows thatThe total amount of bank deposits for the three products reached 1.252 billion yuan。

butOn July 3, 2024, investors discovered thatexistThe account statement printed by Chang'an Bank showed that only 86,000 yuan of the agreed deposit remained.

The huge amount of deposits were transferred away, but the legal representative and holders of Youce Investment claimed they were unaware of this. At the same time, Chang'an Bank was also affected by the mysterious disappearance of the deposits.

Who is lying? Where did the missing 1.252 billion yuan in deposits go?

1

The deposit account had transferred money to three companies.

The complex relationship behind

It is understood that Chang'an Bank previously provided weekly balance statements and monthly reconciliation statements, but it was not until July that Youce Investment discovered that the data did not match and was "seriously inconsistent with bank statements."

Image source: Canned Image Library

Specifically, according to multiple certificates provided by investors to the "Daily Economic News", one of which was a customer deposit account list signed by Chang'an Bank Baoji Jinling Branch and printed on June 28, 2024, which showed that the total balance of Youce Investment's two bank accounts was only more than 80,000 yuan.

Another copy provided by the investor is signed by Chang'an Bank Baoji Science and Technology Branch, printed on June 26The "Account Balance Statement" shows that the principal of the Youce Changxiu Special Account is nearly 740 million yuan.; TwoSigned by Chang'an Bank Baoji Jinling Branch, printed on June 26The "Account Balance Statement" shows that the principal of Youce Changshi's special account is nearly 400 million yuan, and the principal of Youce Yueyueying No. 3 special account is 178 million yuan.

On July 10, after the deposit "disappeared",An announcement released by Youce Investment on some major matters concerning fund operations showed that it had contacted the public security authorities and the head office of Chang'an Bank. At the same time, the company also commissioned a lawyer to send a lawyer's letter to the bank.

At present, 11 funds including "Youce Changxiu" and "Youce Changshi" have suspended subscription and redemption.

Youce Investment was established in December 2016 and registered with the China Securities Association in November of the following year. Youce Investment currently manages 24 funds with a management scale of 2-5 billion yuan. Youce Investment also has an affiliated private equity Zhejiang Guizhi Equity Investment, which has 24 products registered under it with a management scale of 500-1 billion yuan.

The private equity fund deposits were lost, according to the Daily Economic News, because someone signed a supplementary agreement to open an online banking account for the deposit product that was not allowed by the contract, and three companies transferred funds from the Chang'an Bank account through the online banking account.Baoji Fenghuangling Equity Investment Management Co., Ltd.(hereinafter referred to as "Baoji Fenghuangling Equity Investment"), Xi'an Changrong Investment Management Co., Ltd.(hereinafter referred to as "Xi'an Changrong Investment")and Baoji Yuanda Asset Management Co., Ltd.(hereinafter referred to as "Baoji Yuanda Asset Management")Funds were transferred from 3 external companies.

After the private equity funds arrive, they are transferred to the above three companies. Who controls these companies?

Tianyancha App shows thatBaoji Fenghuangling Equity InvestmentFounded in 2018 with a registered capital of 10 million yuan.The legal representative is Wang Jianlin, by one of the above three companiesBaoji Yuanda Asset Management holds 100% of the shares. In July 2024, the company changed its person in charge and handled the license renewal (reissue) business.

Baoji Yuanda Asset Management was established in 2016 with a registered capital of 50 million yuan. The legal representative is Zhao Li, who is jointly held by Zhao Li and Li Diancun, with shareholding ratios of 99.9% and 0.1% respectively. The company changed its address in January 2024 and handled the license renewal (reissue) business.

Xi'an Changrong Investment was established in 2020. Its legal representative is Wu Weifang. Its registered capital is RMB 5 million and it is wholly owned by Wu Weifang. In March 2023, the company's person in charge, key personnel and address were all changed.

Tianyancha APP data also shows thatThere is also a slight connection between Yuanda Asset Management and Zhejiang Guizhi Equity Investment, which is associated with Youce Investment.

Specifically, Qingdao Guizhi Yexing Equity Investment, in which Zhejiang Guizhi Equity Investment holds a stake, holds 47.37% of the shares of Shaanxi Zhongjiang Culture. Ai Tao, the legal representative, executive director and general manager of Shaanxi Zhongjiang Culture, is also the legal representative, executive director and general manager of Shaanxi Xianqin Industrial, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yuanda Asset Management.

According to the "Daily Economic News", Li Wei, the financial director of Fenghuangling Investment, also served as the supervisor of Qianmo Digital Information Technology, and Zhejiang Guizhi Equity Investment participated in Qingdao Guizhi Yecheng Equity Investment, which holds a 5% stake in Qianmo Digital Information Technology.

At the same time, information disclosed by the China Securities Investment Fund Association shows that Gu Xiaodong, the legal representative of Zhejiang Guizhi Equity Investment, had previously served as deputy general manager of Yuanda Asset Management and general manager of Fenghuangling Investment.

Image source: Tianyancha

But to whom did the 1.2 billion yuan in deposits end up? The truth of the matter remains to be further clarified.

AboveThe custodians of private placement products are Industrial Securities and Haitong SecuritiesAmong them, an insider of Industrial Securities told the media that deposit accounts are not under the control system of custodian securities firms. At present, Industrial Securities has reported to the higher regulatory authorities. Haitong Securities said that it has a confidentiality obligation for the products and cannot disclose information to people other than investors.

2

The disappearance of depositors’ funds is not an isolated case

In recent years, cases of lost bank deposits have occurred frequently.

On November 4, 2023, China Merchants Bank was once again exposed to a case of disappearing deposits. The listed company Chaozhuo Aviation Technology issued an announcement stating that the company's 59.95 million yuan was transferred into a margin deposit account by a branch of China Merchants Bank in Nanjing without its knowledge, and was used to redeem bills for two companies that had no affiliation or business dealings with Chaozhuo Aviation Technology.

Image source: Canned Image Library

In 2021, 250 million yuan in deposits disappeared from the Nanning Branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

Another case of lost deposits occurred in 2015. Gao was introduced by an intermediary to buy a financial product with an annual interest rate of more than 40% through a bank employee named Zhang. After signing a blank transfer voucher, he transferred 1.5 million yuan to an account controlled by Zhang and collected more than 200,000 yuan in interest and money. In 2016, Zhang was sentenced for committing the crime of misappropriation of funds. Gao filed a lawsuit after failing to ask the bank to redeem the 1.5 million yuan financial product.

On the evening of October 23, 2015, Mr. Wu from Chaoyang District, Beijing, received a text message from the bank saying that 90,000 yuan had been spent on his bank card to buy financial products. Mr. Wu immediately logged into the PC online banking to check the situation and found that 200,000 yuan had been transferred from his card at 1:50 a.m. on October 21. He had not made any operations before that, and had not received a dynamic verification code. After investigation by the police, it was found that a total of more than 288,000 yuan on Mr. Wu's bank card had been transferred to other accounts.

Starting from October 2014, 11 depositors deposited money in a bank in Zhejiang Province. The amount of each deposit ranged from one million to ten million yuan, with a total amount of more than 62 million yuan. The deposit period was one year. In October 2015, when the deposits matured, the depositors took the deposit slips to the bank to withdraw the money, but were told by the bank that the number on the deposit slip could not be found in the bank system. Later, the bank confirmed that the "deposit slips" in the hands of the depositors were fake. In November 2015, two internal staff members of the bank involved were suspected of forging financial bills and were taken into custody by the police.

In 2013, the listed company Jiugui Liquor (000799.SZ) announced that 100 million yuan of deposits in the Agricultural Bank of China Hangzhou Branch were stolen. Afterwards, the suspect was arrested and part of the stolen funds were recovered.

In 2008, depositor Zhang deposited 9 million yuan into the Jiangsu Yangzhong Branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. When the deposit matured, he found that it had been transferred by He Weihua, the head of the bank's business department, to repay personal debts.

Earlier in 2006, a depositor in Huzhou had more than 2 million yuan in deposits withdrawn by someone else using a forged bank card. The local court's first-instance judgment showed that the depositor was responsible for 70% and the bank was responsible for 30%.

Before the bank reform, each deposit business was handled by two staff members, but there was also a limit on the amount. Deposits of more than 50,000 or 100,000 yuan required supervisor review. However, since the bank reform, the number of customers has increased. In order to improve efficiency, the bank's comprehensive teller system generally requires one person to be responsible. If it involves large amounts and special businesses, the supervisor's authorization is required.

According to incomplete statistics, there have been at least 20 typical cases in the past decade, and the victims include companies, groups and individuals.

By sorting out the cases that have been investigated, it was found that common methods of committing crimes include bank employees taking advantage of their positions to steal customer funds, bank employees colluding with outsiders, and external personnel transferring risks to the bank alone or in collusion with internal personnel of the company.

Specifically, some bank tellers use their authority to exploit loopholes in the bank's internal management and steal customer funds by tampering with customer information, tricking customers into entering their passwords multiple times, and other means.

Some suspects also used high interest rates as bait to lure customers to deposit funds in banks. Some customers knew that their funds were transferred to other uses by outsiders, and even provided convenience for outsiders to transfer funds in their accounts, such as actively handing over bank cards, U shields, passwords, etc. to the perpetrators for safekeeping.

"Without a bank 'insider', the case would not have happened; without credulity, the case would not have happened either." Relevant experts once told Xinhua News Agency that the responsibility for such cases lies with multiple parties.For banks, the disappearance of deposits reveals loopholes in their internal control management and the omissions in their operating environment and personnel management. For depositors, the frequent disappearance of deposits shows that depositors are tempted by "high interest rates" and lose their rationality.

Therefore, the corresponding preventive measures require banks to strengthen "plugging leaks" and depositors must also understand which money "deposited" is safe and which is "risky."

3

Does the bank have any responsibility?

The huge amount of deposits that Youce Investment deposited in Chang'an Bank has "disappeared". Has the bank's business been affected?Chang'an Bank responded that deposits are currently in the normal operation stage, and can guarantee the principal and interest of deposits, and are protected by normal deposit insurance.

Cases involving lost bank deposits are highly controversial. The Supreme Court actually has precedents on this issue.

The Supreme Court held that a deposit relationship is formed between a depositor and a bank. Even if the loss of the deposited funds is due to the suspected criminal behavior of the former head of the bank, since the depositor established the deposit relationship with the bank rather than with an individual, and there is no evidence to prove that the depositor participated in the criminal behavior of the former head of the bank, the responsibility for the crime of the bank’s internal staff cannot exclude the civil liability of the unit.

In other words, no matter whether the bank staff has committed embezzlement, theft or fraud, if the conditions described in the above-mentioned Supreme Court case are met, depositors may obtain redress through civil litigation.

The disappearance of deposits is a disaster for investors.While the law punishes the perpetrators, whether the bank has management loopholes that allow "house thieves" to take advantage and how to ensure the safety of customer deposits have become urgent issues that banks should deal with.

Online public opinion cannot replace legal investigation. I believe that as the truth of bank deposit loss cases is clarified in the future, justice will be sought for society and investors, calming people’s hearts in the panic.