The Hanoi Police Investigation Agency's conclusion in the case involving Pho Duc Nam, known as Mr Pips, details Shark Binh's alleged actions. Shark Binh faces charges of money laundering, while Nam is accused of fraud to appropriate assets and money laundering.

Binh, 45, gained public recognition as "Shark Binh" on "Shark Tank Vietnam". He is known as a "tech shark" who has invested in dozens of startups primarily in e-commerce, financial technology, and media.

In addition to this case, he is currently detained for investigation into three other charges: fraud to appropriate assets, serious violations of accounting regulations, and tax evasion.

According to the suspect's profile, Binh has four children and is married to actress Do Thi Phuong Oanh. He is currently held at the Dong Da sub-camp of Prison No. 1, Hanoi Police.

Shark Binh before his arrest. Photo: FBNV

The investigation concluded that to receive investor funds, Nam agreed with his finance department to open e-wallet accounts with payment intermediary companies. One such company was Ngan Luong Joint Stock Company, where Nguyen Hoa Binh served as Chairman of the Board of Directors.

At Ngan Luong, Shark Binh provided general direction for company operations and established fee regulations for customers using intermediary payment services. When a client emerged, the business department would report directly to him to seek approval on discount rates.

Following Binh's approval, the business team would instruct the technical department to configure the system, meaning to build an automated payment system with a specific discount fee. Subsequently, the operations department was responsible for monthly reconciliation to collect funds for the company.

In June 2018, Ngan Luong's hotline received a request to open an e-wallet and negotiate fees from Mr Pips' staff. This individual introduced themselves as a representative of the GKFX forex platform and sought a 0.5% discount for deposit transactions. However, when the proposal was presented directly at the company, Shark Binh did not agree.

By 2019, the GKFX platform registered to open a Ngan Luong e-wallet for its operations. One year later, Mr Pips, then the GKFX representative in Vietnam, appeared, using a Telegram account named "Peter". Nam introduced himself as the new representative for the GKFX platform and sought a favorable discount rate.

The proposal was reported, but Shark Binh maintained the GKFX transaction fees at 2.5% for deposits and 1% for withdrawals, along with 1.000 VND per withdrawal. In early 2021, Nam directly met with Shark Binh's staff to request a reduction in deposit and withdrawal fees for the forex platform's Ngan Luong e-wallets. Nevertheless, Shark Binh still refused the reduction.

During its operations, Nam continued to establish new forex platforms named DK Trade, ASX, ACX, Sea Investing, Honor, and ScopeMarkets, informing Ngan Luong of these additions. Communications between Nam's side and Ngan Luong occurred through Telegram chat groups. If customers encountered errors while depositing investment funds, Ngan Luong's technical department would directly investigate and resolve the issues.

To open a Ngan Luong e-wallet account, customers had to download and access the application on their phone or visit the website Nganluong.vn. Account opening required information such as full name, date of birth, permanent residence, phone number, citizen identification card, email, and a linked bank account. Customers would then verify their e-wallet by providing a photo of their citizen identification card, after which it could be used.

Pho Duc Nam, also known as TikToker Mr Pips, before his arrest. Photo: FBNV

In June 2020, Ngan Luong began receiving official letters from the police requesting verification of Ngan Luong e-wallets that had processed funds from investors in Nam's forex platforms. Upon receiving reports from his subordinates, Shark Binh was fully aware that Nam's forex platforms were operating illegally.

Despite this knowledge, Binh sought to allow the forex platform's Ngan Luong e-wallets to continue operating to profit from transaction fees. Consequently, Binh instructed his employees not to provide information about the real e-wallets of the platform but to create fake deposit and withdrawal data to supply to the police.

To create the "fake e-wallet" data for the police, Shark Binh instructed staff to contact Mr Pips' side and inform them about the police verification letters. He demanded that the forex platform provide information for another e-wallet and withdrawal transactions "with a suitable amount", meaning equal to or less than the amount customers had deposited into the forex platform's e-wallet.

Following Shark Binh's directive, Ngan Luong staff drafted a reply stating that the e-wallet information receiving funds from the victims, as verified by the police, was provided by the forex platform's staff. It also stated that the deposit transactions into the e-wallet were from the customers mentioned in the letter, and the withdrawal transactions were provided by the forex platform's staff. After approving the draft, Binh forwarded it to the legal representative to sign the official letter for submission to the police.

Based on Shark Binh's instructions, whenever the police sent an official letter, Ngan Luong employees would forward it to Mr Pips' group to coordinate a response.

The investigation concluded that from June 2020 to September 2022, 150 victims transferred nearly 214 billion VND into Ngan Luong e-wallet accounts. These funds were circulated through numerous Ngan Luong Joint Stock Company bank accounts at Vietcombank, Techcombank, BIDV, Eximbank, Viettinbank, VIB, and MBbank, before being deposited into Nam's forex platforms.

Police determined that Shark Binh directly instructed employees to collude with Mr Pips to falsify data and provide fake e-wallet information and transaction histories to the police. This action aimed to obstruct the verification of the victims' money flow and the operations of the real Ngan Luong e-wallets used by the forex platform.

The investigation also found that Nam directly collaborated with Isik Uran to establish 36 websites and instructed employees to open "shell" companies, handle advertising, process payments, and open 69 bank accounts. As the mastermind, Nam is held responsible for a total of 738 fraudulent incidents, amounting to over 1.300 billion VND.

Pham Du