The Hanoi Police Investigation Agency's newly issued supplementary investigation conclusion details the actions of Nguyen Hoa Binh, 45, known as Shark Binh and Chairman of NextTech Group, in a case involving Pho Duc Nam, also known as Mr Pips.

Shark Binh faces recommended prosecution for money laundering, while Nam is accused of property appropriation fraud and money laundering. The number of defendants in the case has increased from 75 to 188, with accusations including property appropriation fraud, money laundering, or receiving stolen property.

The amount Binh is accused of laundering has risen to nearly 319 billion dong, an increase from the previously stated 214 billion dong.

Binh became widely known as Shark Binh through his participation in Shark Tank Vietnam. He earned the nickname "tech shark" and invested in dozens of startups across e-commerce, financial technology, and media sectors.

Beyond this case, Binh is also in detention, facing investigation for three other charges in a separate case: property appropriation fraud, serious violations of accounting regulations, and tax evasion.

Binh's record indicates he has 4 children and his wife is a well-known Hanoi actress. He is currently detained at the Dong Da sub-camp of Detention Center No. 1, Hanoi Police.

Shark Binh before his arrest. Photo: Shark Tank

The investigation conclusion reveals that Nam collaborated with the finance department to open e-wallet accounts at intermediary payment companies, including Ngan Luong Joint Stock Company, where Binh served as Chairman of the Board of Directors. At Ngan Luong, Shark Binh oversaw the company's operations and established fee structures for intermediary payment services.

In 2019, Mr Pips' GKFX exchange registered a Ngan Luong e-wallet for its operations. GKFX charged transaction fees of 2,5% for deposits and 1% for withdrawals, plus 1.000 dong per withdrawal. Mr Pips later met with Shark Binh's staff to request a fee reduction, which was denied.

Nam subsequently established new forex exchanges, including DK Trade, ASX, ACX, Sea Investing, Honor, and ScopeMarkets, informing Ngan Luong Company of these additions. Customers wanting to open a Ngan Luong e-wallet account had to download the application on their phone or access the website.

In June 2020, while working with Nam's exchanges, Ngan Luong Company received a police document verifying the e-wallet. Despite knowing Nam's forex exchanges were illegal, Shark Binh allowed their continued operation to profit from transaction fees.

To conceal these activities, Binh instructed staff to withhold the actual e-wallet information and instead create fake deposit and withdrawal data for a "dummy" e-wallet to provide to the police.

Pho Duc Nam at the investigation agency. Photo: Police provided

The supplementary conclusion states that from June 2020 to September 2022, 232 victims transferred nearly 319 billion dong into various e-wallet accounts. These funds were then routed through multiple bank accounts under Ngan Luong Joint Stock Company at Vietcombank, Techcombank, BIDV, Eximbank, Viettinbank, VIB, and MBbank, before being deposited into Nam's forex exchanges.

In other misconduct within this case, police accuse Mr Pips of directly establishing 36 websites, instructing employees to open "shell" companies, managing advertising and payments, and opening 69 bank accounts. As the mastermind, Nam is held responsible for all 920 incidents, with a total appropriated amount exceeding 1.568 billion dong.