With silver prices soaring, reports have emerged from Shenzhen’s Shuibei market in China of a 'silver merchant absconding'. Recently, several netizens in Guangdong Shenzhen posted on social media that a silver store in Shuibei suddenly closed down and ceased operations, with many people unable to receive payouts for purchased precious metal sheet materials, and the boss is now unreachable.
According to reports by Huashang Daily and Da Feng News, a partner of the implicated silver store, Mr. Jin, said on the 15th that he has known the store owner for many years and this time ordered 5 kilograms of silver sheets, but the store failed to deliver. Including previous offset payments, the owner owes him more than 27,000 RMB (15,700 MYR).
Mr. Jin stated that recently, the supply of silver material has been tight, but he did not expect the store owner to 'abscond' after taking the money. When he called, he found the number had already been canceled. On the afternoon of the 14th, many people went to the silver store to defend their rights. 'I heard that the silver store has about 200 million RMB (116 million MYR) worth of sheet materials that haven't been delivered, the police have already intervened, and the owner is at the police station.'
According to Blue Whale News, the implicated store is a Shuibei silver store named 'Hechengxing'. Several affected merchants disclosed that the rumor of 'absconding' is untrue; the boss, Mr. Zhou, was unable to hand over money and goods, but did not 'abscond'. On the 14th, the store was no longer able to operate normally, and both the boss and the police were in the store. At that time, many people were lining up to register the amounts and quantities involved. After reconciling accounts, the boss would sign but no specific follow-up settlement plan was agreed upon. At about 3:40 p.m. that day, the store owner was taken away by the police. The store is now temporarily closed. An interviewed merchant sighed: 'I wonder if this counts as an IOU?'
Over 350 People in Rights Protection Groups
It is reported that many affected merchants have already reported to the police, with the number of people in rights protection groups exceeding 350. The loss of some merchants ranges from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands RMB, with some having made payment in full. Conservative estimates put the total case value at over ten million RMB. In addition to the downstream merchants who placed orders, some upstream suppliers who provided silver materials or scrap have not received payment either.
Tianyancha data shows the implicated silver store was established in 2022, and its legal representative also owns a jewelry company registered in Changsha, Hunan.