Victim confesses…! Suruga Bank is in the midst of another major “illegal loan scandal”.

Bullshit Property Information

The huge “fraudulent loan scandal” by Suruga Bank has broken out again.

It’s been almost three years since the “Pumpkin Carriage” incident, in which the financial world was shaken by the discovery of large-scale fraudulent loans based on falsified documents. By March of this year, a settlement was reached between Suruga Bank, which admitted that some of the loans were flawed, and 542 owners of the share houses, erasing the debt of about 88.2 billion yen owed by the owners. With this, it seemed that Suruga Bank was on its way to restructuring its business.

However, in May of this year, a new victims’ group, the “Suruga Bank Fraudulent Loan Victims’ Alliance,” was launched. There are more than 300 victims participating in the group, and about 50 lawyers. They claim that when they purchased investment apartments and condominiums, they were given loans that were higher than the original value of the properties due to the falsification of documents by Suruga Bank, resulting in difficulties in repaying the loans, and they are seeking 80,584,170,000 yen in compensation.

On September 19 of this year, a meeting was held by the “Victims’ Alliance,” where about 150 participants expressed their respective damage situations and discussed future guidelines with the lawyers. On the 27th of the same day, a demonstration was held in front of the Tokyo branch of Suruga Bank, holding a banner.

The president of the Victims’ Alliance made the following appeal.

“But in the case of Suruga Bank, the case is different. In the case of Suruga Bank, however, it was a different case. The information on the properties, so-called ‘rent rolls,’ such as rent income and occupancy status, was all bullshit. In other words, Suruga Bank sold and financed the bad properties by making them look reliable and selling them at seminars held by brokers.

Moreover, the interest rate was a very high 4.5%. It was impossible to get the expected yield, and a large deficit was incurred. There were people all over the country who complained about the same kind of damage, and the Victims’ Alliance gathered members one after another soon after its launch.

All the money for my retirement has disappeared.

What exactly is the “disguise” claimed by the “Victims’ Alliance”?

Mr. A (pseudonym, in his 50s), who works for a megabank, took out a loan of 120 million yen in 2005 and bought a condominium in Utsunomiya City. He was told by Suruga Bank that he would be able to earn 1.01 million yen in rent when the apartment was fully occupied, but in reality, the apartment was full of vacancies and the income was only 450,000 yen. After purchasing the property, Mr. A became suspicious and made a disclosure request through his lawyer, which revealed many falsifications.

“The rent in the lease contract that was shown to us before the loan was 20,000 yen higher per room. There were also falsifications in the Important Matters Statement and the sales contract, such as the names of vendors with whom they had not communicated. The rent income was 450,000 yen, but the loan repayment was 600,000 yen per month ……. I’ve been suffering ever since I bought it.

Suruga Bank did not only disguise the property information. I’m not sure what to make of it, but I think it’s a good idea. Mr. B (pseudonym, in his 50s), who works for a major insurance company and bought two condominiums in Matsudo City in 2004, said.

“I was given 70 million yen more than my actual capital. As a result of being forced to buy properties that were not worth the money, I am now in the red by almost 5 million yen a year. I have no way to repay the loan and all my retirement funds are gone. I had the stereotypical notion that banks would never engage in fraud.

When we sent a questionnaire to Suruga Bank regarding the alleged fraudulent loans claimed by the Victims’ Alliance, they responded as follows

When we sent a questionnaire to Suruga Bank regarding the alleged fraudulent loans claimed by the Victims’ Alliance, the bank responded as follows: “We will refrain from responding to the claims of the Victims’ Alliance, as we will make our views and responses to the claims of the Victims’ Alliance in the course of our discussions with them. We will continue to respond to customers’ inquiries about repayment in a sincere manner, although we will discuss our views and claims on each individual case, not only with the group.

“The Victims’ Alliance has already begun negotiations with Suruga Bank. Satsuke Tomiya, a representative of ReBORNs, a general incorporated association that provided counseling to the victims of the “pumpkin carriage” incident, spoke about the future.

He said, “Falsifying property information is nothing but an illegal act that blunts the decision to buy. However, in response to the complaint by the Victims’ Alliance, Suruga Bank has claimed that it is not a tort and that the debt cannot be written off. It is said that the total amount of debt for this investment in apartments and condominiums is about 600 billion yen, and if this is written off, as in the case of the “pumpkin carriage” incident, Suruga Bank will not be able to maintain its strength. Negotiations appear to be prolonged.

When will a conclusion be reached?

From the October 22-29, 2021 issue of FRIDAY