On 7/7, Nguyen Tuyet Vu Oanh, 45, and her sister Nguyen Tuyet Vu Anh, 34, faced trial at the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court on two charges: illegally trading bank account information and money laundering.

Vo Thi Le, 71, Oanh's mother, and 9 other individuals are accused of illegally trading bank account information in connection with the case.

Pham Ngoc Thanh Truc is separately charged with illegally using computer networks, telecommunication networks, and electronic devices to appropriate property.

According to the indictment, Oanh became the Head of C&B at Global Company, based in Cambodia, in September 2020. This company operated online gambling. The business required a large number of bank accounts to manage gambling transaction flows.

In April 2021, Oanh connected her sister, Vu Anh, with a company employee named Mia (identity unknown) to arrange the rental of bank accounts from individuals in Vietnam. These accounts were then transferred to Cambodia for Mia's use.

Vu Anh subsequently recruited her friend, Tran Ngoc Thao, 33, to help find people and rent bank accounts.

By March 2022, Oanh connected her sister with an individual named Minh Khang (identity unknown) to expand the account collection operation. The defendants established a Telegram group to coordinate the rental and use of bank accounts.

Defendant Vo Thi Le and her daughter in court. Photo: Hai Duyen

According to prosecutors, Vu Anh and Tran Ngoc Thao, driven by illicit gain, recruited individuals to open bank accounts as requested by Mia and Khang. Each person was instructed to open accounts at multiple banks and was provided with an iPhone sent by the group from Cambodia to Vietnam.

After completing the account opening procedures and registering for internet banking, they had to surrender their phones. Vu Anh then transferred these phones to Cambodia for Mia to manage and use.

Investigators determined that Mia and Khang paid 10-12 million VND for each person who opened an account. However, Vu Anh only gave the account holders 7-8 million VND, pocketing a difference of 3-5 million VND per case.

Additionally, Mia paid 8 million VND per month for account rental, but Vu Anh only transferred 6 million VND to the account holders, retaining 2 million VND.

Prosecutors identified that Vu Anh organized the trafficking of approximately 2,600 bank accounts, illegally profiting over 9 billion VND. Vu Oanh facilitated 85 individuals in opening 1,445 accounts for rental, earning about 3.3 billion VND.

Vu Anh also persuaded her mother to open accounts to receive money. From April to December 2021, Ms. Le opened 17 bank accounts and brokered for 10 others to open 170 accounts for Vu Anh to rent, profiting 210 million VND.

Subsequently, from March 2022 to 26/12/2024, Ms. Le continued to organize for 70 individuals to open 1,050 bank accounts for rental, illegally profiting over 3.6 billion VND. In total, Oanh, her mother, and sister collectively gained over 16 billion VND.

Regarding the branch managed by Tran Ngoc Thao, authorities determined that the defendant organized for 93 individuals to open 1,598 bank accounts for rental, profiting over 3.2 billion VND.

Several other defendants were identified as having opened tens of bank accounts for the Vu Anh sisters and their accomplices to rent, earning tens to hundreds of millions of VND.

In court today, the Oanh sisters admitted to their wrongdoing but claimed they did not launder money for foreign criminal groups. According to their testimony, the money they profited was paid by the Cambodian company for renting bank accounts, and they were unaware these accounts were used for illegal purposes.

Pham Ngoc Thanh Truc, one of the individuals hired by Oanh's mother and sister to open accounts, testified that she opened 18 bank accounts. She then handed over the information and usage rights to them, profiting 22 million VND.

Additionally, Truc stated that in early 2023, while checking her balance at the bank, she discovered one of her accounts contained over 580 million VND. She then proceeded to withdraw the entire amount, appropriating it for personal use.

After several hours of questioning, the Trial Panel decided to return the case file for additional investigation. This will clarify several details of the case. Earlier, during the background questioning of the defendants, the Trial Panel noted inconsistencies between some statements and the case file.

Hai Duyen