Police in Da Nang on 21/8 announced the indictment of three bank employees and 17 other individuals on charges of using computer networks and telecommunications to appropriate property, money laundering, illegally trading bank account information, and forging and using seals and documents of agencies and organizations. The crimes occurred in Da Nang and several other provinces and cities.

Investigators searched the branches of the involved banks in Binh Duong, Hanoi, and Da Nang.

A group of suspects in the money laundering ring have been indicted. *Photo: Police*

This is the second phase of an investigation launched in January. In the first phase, 13 people were indicted. Between 2022 and 2024, a 36-year-old Da Nang man allegedly forged citizen identification cards to establish 187 shell companies. He also counterfeited bank, government agency, and notary seals to open over 600 corporate accounts (two to three accounts per company), which he then sold to criminal groups.

These accounts were used to transfer and legitimize illicit funds from overseas fraud and gambling operations into Vietnam, circumventing regulatory oversight. The total transaction volume is estimated at nearly 30,000 billion VND (approximately $1.25 billion USD), including over 300 billion VND in foreign exchange transactions.

This is the largest money laundering operation uncovered in Da Nang to date, involving numerous local residents. The identities of the accused have not been released.

Ngoc Truong