Using bricks and mortar, the Christian Democrat MP Alojz Hlina walled up the entrance door to loan company Pozickaren in Bratislava on Thursday. He claimed that the company wasn't authorised to offer new consumer loans as it has not received a licence from the Slovak central bank (NBS) to do so. The police subsequently took Hlina away for questioning.
"We have information from all over Slovakia that branches are open and offering loans. This is abnormal, there are usurers doing what they want with the entire state. Who makes the decisions in this country?" asked Alojz Hlina in front of the Pozickaren outlet.
The loan company insists that it has respected and will respect the guidelines of the market regulator and NBS both before and after 31 August 2015. According to Pozickaren spokesperson Michal Hatina, the company isn't authorising new loan contracts in compliance with the law on consumer loans and the documents will be kept in a registry without being dealt with until written notification from NBS. "The goal of Pozickaren branches ... is to facilitate people's various interests and needs concerning insurance, the repayment of loans and reviewing the needs of borrowers, classifying them for consumer loans or those for business purposes", said Hatina.
Companies that have not yet obtained the authorisation required by NBS are obliged to suspend their activities. "These companies can't provide new consumer credit until a licence is issued by NBS", said Jana Kovacova from the NBS press department on Wednesday. If companies provide new loans despite this, they will be breaking the law on consumer loans and the contracts concerned will be invalid, she added.The lawyer Rastislav Kassak who represents Alojz Hlina said that the MP had substantiated and trustworthy information about criminal activities, particularly usury, being committed by the company Pozickaren. By walling up its entrance, he only attempted to prevent this criminal activity from continuing.
MP Alojz Hlina is suspected of infringing access rights to house, flat and office space as well as unlawful restraint of personal freedom, Police President Tibor Gaspar announced at a press conference on Thursday. He added that if found guilty, Hlina might be jailed for up to three years.
