Previously, the Cybersecurity Police Department of the Hanoi Police, in collaboration with relevant departments under the Ministry of Public Security and the municipal police, discovered a fraudulent network that appropriated assets across the nation through online trading platforms, specifically in securities trading, operated by two masterminds known as Phó Äức Nam (alias Mr. Pips, based in VÅ©ng Tà u) and Lê Khắc Ngợi (alias Mr. Hunter, based in Hanoi).
The competent authorities have decided to prosecute the case, charging Phó Äức Nam, born in 1994, residing in Ward 8, VÅ©ng Tà u City, Bà Rịa – VÅ©ng Tà u Province; Lê Khắc Ngợi, born in 1990, residing in Phú Diá»…n Ward, Bắc Từ Liêm District, Hanoi; along with 24 other defendants for crimes including “fraudulent appropriation of assets,†“obstructing criminal proceedings,†and “money laundering†under Articles 174, 390, and 324 of the Penal Code.
According to the initial investigation, in June 2019, Phó Äức Nam collaborated with Lê Khắc Ngợi to establish a fraudulent network that appropriated assets, modeled after brokerage firms.
To lure unsuspecting victims into the scam, the masterminds hid behind company names, operating in the fields of Telemarketing (soliciting, advertising products via phone), Tele Sales (consulting, selling over the phone), financial investment consulting, and brokerage services (investing in stock codes of well-known brands, national corporations operating on international stock exchanges, such as Facebook, Apple, Pepsi, Microsoft, Adidas) to entice customers.
The perpetrators established the website “artexvina.co,†recruiting employees and building a corporate image that operated professionally in the field of securities investment consulting on the international market. Subsequently, Nam and Ngợi utilized their employees to approach, consult, and attract new clients to participate in investments. At the same time, this group of defendants established branches nationwide, mainly focusing on Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Äà Nẵng, and Cambodia.
The investigation has confirmed that Phó Äức Nam also utilized numerous “ghost†company accounts to manipulate customer funds, guiding customers into private chat groups, instructing them on how to deposit money, and quickly withdrawing funds to create a sense of trust. This encouraged further investments, often using borrowed money to cover losses quickly (losing money). When victims experienced losses, the perpetrators would continue to lure them into new schemes with more enticing offers, promising high profits to recover their lost assets.
To carry out these criminal activities, Phó Äức Nam and Lê Khắc Ngợi established various departments (IT department, support department, administration department, security department, etc.) and trained personnel within the system.
The investigation has conducted urgent searches at the residences and workplaces of the defendants, confiscating assets worth over 5,000 billion VND, including: 127 billion VND in cash, savings accounts worth approximately 306 billion VND, 216 kg of gold, 128 real estate properties, 30 vehicles of various types, and seizing 9 billion VND in cash and many other valuable assets.
