On 13/2, Dong Nai Police temporarily detained Van and 13 others to investigate fraudulent appropriation of assets.

The special task force stated this is one of the first cases where a Vietnamese mastermind, who self-invested in large-scale infrastructure and operated a fraud system in multiple locations in Cambodia, has been apprehended.

The group behind the fraud ring. Photo: Thai Ha

According to the investigation, the group used fake Facebook accounts posing as Vietnamese female international students in Japan, South Korea, France, Switzerland, and other countries. Their goal was to befriend and form romantic relationships with economically well-off men.

Once trust was established, the suspects enticed victims to participate in "online money-making". This involved performing tasks on fake applications like Ozon and Mercado, which the group itself created. Participants were instructed to open accounts, place orders, and purchase goods to receive commissions; the higher the order value, the higher the commission.

When victims had deposited substantial amounts, the fraud group continued to present various excuses, such as "capital withdrawal", "tax payment", or "verification fees", to demand further money transfers. Once victims could no longer pay, the perpetrators blocked communication and appropriated all deposited funds.

The misappropriated funds were then laundered through Chinese groups in Cambodia. This involved transferring the money through multiple layers of accounts and converting it into USDT cryptocurrency to avoid detection and tracing.

Initially, investigators determined that Van's group defrauded Vietnamese citizens of over 2,500 billion dong. This affected thousands of victims nationwide, including approximately 150 individuals in Dong Nai province alone.

During searches of the suspects' residences, police seized numerous pieces of jewelry and 10 land use rights certificates. The total estimated value of these assets exceeds 50 billion dong.

Phuoc Tuan