Arequipa: My Financial was already in judicial liquidation

By: Roberth Orihuela

The closure of three branches of the Savings and Credit Cooperative (Coopac) My Financial, in recent days, caused concern in the cooperative members. Given this, they said, they went to ask about the situation of their savings and if they could withdraw them. The responses they received were negative, they were only told that they could do it later and not to worry because the cooperative would continue to operate.

The situation facing Mi Financiera is uncertain. The Superintendence of Banking and Insurance (SBS) clarified that they cannot supervise it. They rejected that they have ordered the closure or intervention. They also recalled that this was already in the process of dissolution in the Judiciary. The management was made at the request of the National Federation of Savings and Credit Cooperatives of Peru (Fenacrep) in 2018.

The case is aired in the Civil Court of the Mariano Melgar headquarters. According to the file, Mi Financiera would have misused the savers’ funds. In 2019, the SBS requested that the conclusion of the process be declared. Not because it has agreed with Mi Financiera, but because Law No. 30822 came into force, which gave the SBS the power to intervene and regulate Coopacs throughout the country. The court agreed with him and ruled through resolution No. 12 of September 2019.

Coopac Mi Financiera is currently on the list of Savings and Credit Cooperatives with requests for liquidation and dissolution before the Judiciary. This is because they filed an appeal before the Supreme Court, as the last weapon to avoid being dissolved. In addition to this, Mi Financiera is not on the list of Coopac authorized by the SBS. Therefore, the funds they have are put at risk, since they are not insured with the Cooperative Deposit Insurance Fund. In case it closed, the partners would lose all their money. That is why they are concerned when they realize the closure of three of their stores located in the commercial platform of Avelino Cáceres, Cayma and El Pedregal.

One of the savers who went to the main headquarters on Mariscal Castilla Avenue in the Cercado de Arequipa, is Rocío. She says that she deposited S / 10 thousand for a fixed term and that she hoped to continue her studies with that money. After hearing the news through the media, she first went to the Cayma headquarters, but found it closed. She later went to Mariscal Castilla’s and there she asked for her money to be returned. The only thing she received was negatives. The workers told him that they could not give him the money until June, because they were recovering the loans that were not paid due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Another partner indicated that he had deposited about 50 thousand soles, product of his savings and the sale of properties. My financial company offered him 14% annual interest, so he received some monthly money as a payment to cover his expenses. Yesterday he went and they gave him, but not all the money. Aware of the news, he also asked that they give him his money, but he received the same answer as Rocío.v

Who is behind the financial

Ahorristas indicated that the family of Hipólito Batallanos, founder of the Credicoop coopac, would also be behind Mi Financiera. This would also appear in the investigation for Money Laundering that the Public Ministry continues against the Battlenos.

An ex-worker assured La República that every so often “a certain Battlenos, who would be the owner of everything,” would come. We tried to contact councilor Christian Batallanos, but he did not answer calls or messages.

Neither did the manager of the headquarters of Mariscal Castilla de Mi Financiera, Oscar Benavente.

The one who did answer was José Luis Hancco Mamani, regional councilor and former president of the Administrative Council of Mi Financiera. He assured that he was not aware of the judicial process that the SBS filed against the coopac, despite the fact that he was appointed in 2018, when the trial began. He added that in 2020 he resigned notarized.