Do Viet Dai, 54, and Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, 48, along with their accomplices, are accused of running a sophisticated operation that moved over $100 million (approximately 2,570 billion VND) across the Vietnam-Cambodia border, according to Ho Chi Minh City police.

The pair played a key role in a larger money laundering scheme totaling over 4,150 billion VND orchestrated by Mai Vu Minh, along with Nigerian nationals Okoye Christian Ikechukwu and Eneh Davidson Caleb.

Do Viet Dai and Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan at the time of their arrest. Photo: Police Department

Dai, the owner of Duc Long gold shop on Pham Van Hai street, Tan Son Nhat ward, had been fined 1 billion VND 3 years ago by the Quang Nam provincial court for a similar offense.

Despite his prior conviction, Dai continued his illegal foreign exchange operations, connecting with Cambodian contacts, securing clients, negotiating fees, and overseeing the network while Ngan handled daily transactions. Ngan partnered with a Cambodian woman known as Duyen (or Mrs. Muoi), who ran a foreign exchange business, establishing a transfer hub between Vietnam and Cambodia. Their base of operations was an unmarked house on Cach Mang Thang Tam street, near the gold shop, staffed by two employees who managed transactions, kept records, and communicated through private Telegram chats.

Ngan managed all cross-border transactions, while Dai remained in the background due to his previous legal troubles. To avoid detection, Ngan and Duyen communicated with their teams solely through Telegram. Clients could deposit or collect money at designated locations after providing necessary information. For transfers from Cambodia, Duyen would send daily messages detailing phone numbers and amounts to Ngan’s team via Telegram. Clients would confirm receipt by texting Ngan, who would then screenshot the confirmation and share it with Duyen. The reverse process was followed for transfers from Vietnam to Cambodia.

Between 1/12/2023 and 5/4/2024, the network moved nearly $11 million and over 2,000 billion VND from Cambodia to Vietnam, and over $8 million and more than 35 billion VND in the opposite direction. This totaled approximately 2,570 billion VND (equivalent to over $100 million). Ngan profited approximately 1.25 billion VND after expenses, while Dai personally handled transactions exceeding $160,000.

The couple and their employees are now facing charges of illegal cross-border money transfers. Investigators also revealed that Duc Long gold shop conducted over 1,540 billion VND and $7 million in undocumented foreign exchange transactions with the other defendants, raising concerns about potential violations of foreign exchange regulations. Authorities are expanding their investigation to determine the involvement of other individuals, particularly Duyen, who remains at large.

Police searching Duc Long gold shop, April 2024. Photo: Police Department

Duc Long gold shop served as a crucial money laundering hub for Mai Vu Minh and his associates, who collaborated with a network of primarily Nigerian criminals. This group used sophisticated technology to hack into the email accounts of businesses engaged in international trade. They created fake email addresses, nearly identical to the real ones, to communicate with clients, requesting changes to payment accounts and providing forged invoices and bank confirmations.

Minh's group established nearly 300 shell companies in Vietnam with foreign-sounding names, mirroring legitimate partners. They opened foreign currency and VND accounts to receive funds, which were quickly converted to VND, transferred through various personal accounts, and withdrawn as cash for the criminal network.

Authorities have confirmed that Minh's group embezzled over 1,100 billion VND through this email hacking scheme. Investigations into the individuals responsible for the hacking, located overseas, are ongoing through international legal assistance.

After being converted to VND, the stolen funds were channeled through Duc Long gold shop and Yen Sao Kingfood to be laundered and transferred to Cambodia or other countries. In April 2024, the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department's Investigation Agency (PC01) launched a large-scale operation, leading to the arrest of numerous individuals and the seizure of over 9 billion VND, over $1.5 million, and other foreign currencies poised for transfer overseas.

Currently, 21 individuals are facing charges of money laundering and illegal cross-border money transfers.

Quoc Thang