On 18/9, Nguyen Anh Khuong, 35, a former employee of VIB Bank, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for fraud.
Two of his former colleagues, Le Nguyen Nhat Thi, 32, and Bui Thi Thanh Ngan, 41, received two-year sentences for violating banking regulations.
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Nguyen Anh Khuong (in green) and the other defendants in court. Photo: Binh Nguyen |
Nguyen Anh Khuong (in green) and the other defendants in court. Photo: Binh Nguyen
According to the indictment, on 18/2/2024, Khuong saw an advertisement on TikTok for a "red-light district" app offering dating, prostitution, and investment services. He downloaded the app and created an account.
An individual claiming to be a customer service representative (whose identity remains unknown) contacted Khuong, advising him to upgrade to a VIP account to "access services and investment opportunities." Khuong initially transferred 578,000 VND and received 635,800 VND back within minutes. Seeing the quick profit, he made several more deposits and received returns.
On the afternoon of 19/2/2024, Khuong transferred 12.3 million VND but received no return. He contacted the app's support and was told there was a "system error." He was instructed to deposit more money to fix the issue and promised a full refund. Believing them, he transferred nearly 30 million VND, then another almost 60 million VND, but received nothing.
On the morning of 20/2, the scammers demanded another 60 million VND to return his principal and supposed profits. Out of funds, Khuong decided to deceive his colleagues.
That afternoon, he went to his bank's branch on Nguyen Tri Phuong Street and asked teller Le Nguyen Nhat Thi and supervisor Bui Thi Thanh Ngan to make a false deposit into his account. He promised them a refund within 15 minutes once the app paid him back, falsely claiming he had savings accounts at two other banks as "collateral."
Trusting their colleague, Thi and Ngan made a false deposit of 739.4 million VND from the branch's daily transaction fund into Khuong's account. He then transferred the entire amount to the "red-light district" app as instructed by the scammers and lost it all.
While investigating the three employees' misconduct, Ho Chi Minh City Police separated Khuong's loss of nearly 850 million VND through the app for further investigation.
Binh Nguyen
