By Pham Du December 28, 2024 | 3:24 PM PT
Hanoi police have seized assets worth another VND100 billion ($3.9 million) from the perpetrators of Vietnam’s largest currency and securities fraud.
They included a Mercedes G63, VND12 billion in bank accounts and 18 properties, investigators said.
They have also discovered $500,000 in offshore accounts related to the case and are working to seize them.
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Gold confiscated in the alleged fraud case of Pho Duc Nam, also known as Mr. Pips. Photo courtesy of Hanoi Police |
So far, they have seized VND5.3 trillion ($208 million) in assets linked to the crimes masterminded by Mr Pipsreal name Pho Duc Nam.
Earlier this month, Nam and thirty accomplices were charged with, among other things, fraudulent appropriation of assets and money laundering. Many of them, including Nam, were arrested in October.
The suspects allegedly defrauded more than 2,660 victims by setting up a fraudulent stock trading platform that did not facilitate actual trading and only served to transfer the money to their accounts.
They operated 44 offices nationwide and employed 1,000 workers, none of whom were licensed.
Nam was active on social media and often used photos and videos of luxury cars and villas to lure in potential victims.
Among the assets seized by police are more than 30 luxury cars, including Porsches, Jaguars and Lamborghinis, and 246 kilos of gold.