Mr. Pips Pho Duc Nam's fraud ring 'the biggest in Vietnam in foreign exchange and securities'

Hanoi police said TikToker Mr. Pips Pho Duc Nam is the ringleader in the 'largest ever foreign exchange and securities fraud ring in Vietnam'.

Defendant Pho Duc Nam works with the police - Photo: Provided by the police

Hanoi City Police said that after the investigation process, the police investigation agency has prosecuted 31 defendants, identified 2,661 victims, and seized assets estimated at VND5,200 billion in the case of TikToker Mr. Pips Pho Duc Nam and TikToker Mr. Hunter Le Khac Ngo committing stock investment fraud.

Mr. Pips Pho Duc Nam is the leader of the fraud ring.

Contrary to the image of luxury, high-class life, showing off huge assets, teaching financial investment on social networks, when detained, Pho Duc Nam shaved his head and sat hunched over at the investigation agency.

"When people see beautiful houses and luxury cars, it will convey trust to the viewer and they will be attracted to these images and easily be lured into financial investments," Nam confessed about his tricks to lure and defraud investors.

Lieutenant Colonel Cao Van Thai, Deputy Head of the Criminal Police Department of Hanoi City Police, said that it was Pho Duc Nam and Le Khac Ngo's flashy image on social media that made people believe in investing. The victims believed that investing would make them rich quickly and they would soon become "rich people".

Lieutenant Colonel Thai assessed that Nam and Ngo's group of scammers "advertised" better than other criminal groups. That's why many people trusted them, leading to a large number of victims having their money stolen.

"In this case, Pho Duc Nam is the ringleader. It can be said that up to now, this is the biggest fraud ring in Vietnam in the field of foreign exchange and securities," said Lieutenant Colonel Thai.

Although the amount of money that Pho Duc Nam's group appropriated was particularly large, the methods and tactics of the group were not much different from those of other criminal gangs. The difference was the scale of this criminal gang.

Every day, there are about 1,000 employees working from 8am to 9pm. Employees are well trained in methods, approaches, and scenarios when deceiving people.

Lieutenant Colonel Cao Van Thai, Deputy Head of the Criminal Police Department, informed about the case solving process - Photo: DANH TRONG

The process of arresting Mr. Pips Pho Duc Nam encountered many difficulties.

Colonel Thanh Kien Trung - Head of Cau Giay District Police (Hanoi), head of the investigation team, said this is a special case, a high-tech crime. The suspects always use virtual space, virtual accounts, and "ghost" identities to operate, so the investigation is very difficult.

Mr. Pips Pho Duc Nam used sophisticated methods and tricks to defraud, often in Cambodia, and occasionally returned to Vietnam, making the process of solving, arresting, and handling the case very difficult for the police.

But with professional measures and high determination, the police arrested Pho Duc Nam in Ward 1, District 4, Ho Chi Minh City.

"The suspects used anonymity so their real identities cannot be known. However, with professional techniques, special measures, expertise, and high determination of the police force, the Investigation Team has investigated and clarified the specific identities of each suspect," Colonel Trung informed.

According to Colonel Trung, to recover assets worth more than VND5,200 billion, Cau Giay District Police and the investigation team used a large force of detectives and investigators to coordinate smoothly with the Hanoi City People's Procuracy, Cau Giay District People's Procuracy, and other professional units of Hanoi Police.

TikToker Mr. Pips Pho Duc Nam at the time of his arrest - Photo: Provided by the police

In addition, thanks to the direction of the Hanoi City Police Department, directly by Major General Nguyen Thanh Tung - Deputy Director of Hanoi City Police. Thereby, the crime-solving force simultaneously applied many professional measures, many attack points to raid storage and hiding points, and identified the assets of the subjects from crimes.

"We were proactive and had a sufficient, necessary and strong force, so the recovery of all assets was very favorable and thorough," said the head of the investigation team.

Speaking more about the number of victims in the case, Lieutenant Colonel Cao Van Thai said that during the very short investigation, the number of 2,661 victims was exploited from a part of the computer (out of 280 computers seized) of the sales and leader subjects. The police extracted information, the victim had initially deposited about 50 million USD.

"This is the victim's information in a part of the seized computer. Therefore, the investigation agency is continuing to verify and record the statements of the victims until the money runs out... then the total amount can be determined," said Lieutenant Colonel Thai.

Many luxury and super luxury cars were seized by the police - Photo: Provided by the police

The amount of gold bars seized by the police - Photo: Provided by the police

Employees in Pho Duc Nam's fraud ring - Photo: Provided by the police

Major General Nguyen Thanh Tung, Deputy Director and Head of the Investigation Police Agency of Hanoi City Police, presented letters of commendation to the units - Photo: Provided by the Police

What should the victim do to get the money back?

Hanoi City Police request that victims of fraud on websites and trading floors of Pho Duc Nam... report to the criminal police department of police in provinces and cities nationwide.

Victims can also go directly to the Criminal Police Department of Hanoi City Police (address: 90 Nguyen Du, Nguyen Du Ward, Hai Ba Trung, Hanoi; hotline: 0886.882.338).

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/duong-day-lua-dao-cua-mr-pips-pho-duc-nam-lon-nhat-viet-nam-ve-ngoai-hoi-chung-khoan-20241211102944909.htm