Out of control! Two brothers with middle school education, using "gold-plated tungsten" fake gold to scam 2.7 billion from four banks, buying 17 luxury homes overseas, enjoying years of freedom before getting caught! Are the banks' risk controls this weak?

Ridiculous!

A pair of brothers with a junior high school education, easily defrauded four banks of 2.7 billion yuan with a pile of fake gold, and transferred the funds through underground banks and other illegal channels to places like Hong Kong, with some of the funds finally used to purchase 17 properties in the Republic of Cyprus???

On March 27, 2026, a ruling by the Intermediate People’s Court of Weinan City, Shaanxi Province, brought a long-sealed major fake gold loan scam back into the public eye. Zhang Shumin, chairman of Boyuan Mining Co., Ltd. in Lingbao City, Henan, and his brother Zhang Qingmin had their assets—17 properties in Cyprus, funds and interest in 7 bank accounts—legally recovered. These assets, exchanged for fake gold, were ultimately returned to their rightful owners.

But the true value of this case goes far beyond the 2.7 billion yuan figure and the 17 overseas properties. It’s like a multifaceted prism, reflecting systemic loopholes that have long existed in China’s movable collateral financing sector, as well as hidden risk blind spots within the supply chain ecosystem driven by vested interests.

As a smart service platform deeply engaged in the supply chain industry, today we peel back the fog of this scam and delve into the details: this loan fraud was never a high-IQ crime, but rather a precise harvest by scammers exploiting weak links in supply chain financing, loopholes in bank risk control, and industry inertia. More alarmingly, the issues exposed by this scam are not isolated cases but common chronic problems throughout the entire supply chain financing field, warranting deep reflection by all supply chain companies, traders, and financial institutions in the industry.

1. Scam Breakdown: From Tungsten-Encased Gold to 2.7 Billion, What is the underlying logic of the scammers?

Many wonder: gold, as a hard currency, undergoes strict bank inspection processes. How could Zhang Shumin brothers pass through undetected? The answer is simple: they mastered the core pain points of supply chain pledge financing, using the most straightforward physical principles to penetrate all regulatory