Extremely sophisticated transnational crime ring specializing in "money laundering"

Today (April 15), Hanoi People's Court brought 21 defendants to trial for fraud and money laundering.

Previously, in February 2022, Ms. Nguyen Thi L. (born in 1985, in Cau Giay district, Hanoi) went online on Facebook and saw the account "Khanh Nho" posting an online recruitment ad for an accountant to do data entry work for "Anpha Accounting Company", so she texted to apply for the job.

After being accepted to work, Ms. L. was tasked with entering data on orders that were missing or had incorrect amounts entered that the company needed to correct. Each day, the collaborator would receive 3-10 orders at fixed times. Afterwards, a person using a Telegram account named “Thu Ky Yen Phamarcity” said that Ms. L. had completed her task and received a commission.

Initially, Ms. L. made an order to transfer 3 million VND, but later she received more than 4.4 million VND. Next, at the request of the subject, Ms. L. transferred 30 million VND to the account provided by the subject, but she was unable to withdraw the money. The subject gave many different reasons, asking Ms. L. to continue transferring money before she could withdraw the transferred amount.

Just like that, on August 25-30, 2022, Ms. L. transferred more than 19.9 billion VND 24 times to 15 bank accounts provided by the subjects, but then could not withdraw the money. Knowing she had been scammed, she went to the Hanoi City Police to report.

Transnational money laundering ring exposed

The investigation determined that the above bank accounts were managed by the 777pay Department, a member of the Jibian criminal organization. Jinbian Company is a criminal organization that operates in the field of "money laundering" for gambling applications or fraudsters as an intermediary payment gateway. The company is headquartered in the capital Phnom Penh (Cambodia).

The company is divided into 8 departments, the technical department is responsible for writing software, securing the server system, and preventing hackers from accessing it. The administrative department is responsible for recruiting, paying employees, and maintaining the facilities for the company to operate.

Other departments provide "money laundering" services for many subjects in countries such as China, India, Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam. In particular, the 777pay department specializes in "money laundering" in the Vietnamese market.

The 777pay department is managed by Tan Zhi Bao (born in 1986, Chinese nationality), with about 79 people, divided into 5 working groups, including many Vietnamese people.

Investigation results show that the 777pay Department provided bank accounts for the scammers to instruct Ms. L. to transfer money to appropriate it.

Specifically, the Import Team sent bank account numbers for the scammers to provide to Ms. L. to transfer money. After Ms. L. transferred more than 19.9 billion VND to 15 bank accounts provided by the scammers, the Import Team staff confirmed and added points to the 777pay system.

After transferring all the money that Ms. L. transferred to the bank accounts of the Finance Management Team, the Finance Management Team staff rotated, divided and forwarded it to many different bank accounts.

The investigation agency determined that the suspects were employees of the 777pay Department who provided bank accounts for the scammers to transfer money to the victims. After the victims transferred money, they confirmed and added points to the scammers' system.

At this time, the group withdrew money from many bank accounts of the 777pay Department and transferred it to bank accounts designated by the scammers. This is considered an act of complicity in helping the scammers appropriate Ms. L's money.

Verifying the cash flow that Ms. L. had appropriated, the Investigation Police determined that Phan Van Minh (born in 1978, in Ho Chi Minh City) established Minh Phuc Company Limited and traded in foreign currency.

Since 2020, Minh has started to "launder money" by receiving Vietnamese Dong through accounts and then having employees withdraw cash to deliver to customers, or transfer to bank accounts designated by customers.

To operate, Minh hired other defendants to open bank accounts to receive, transfer and withdraw money; hired people to do accounting and manage bank accounts and online money transfers.

In this case, Minh received more than 10 billion VND in "laundering" money transferred by the 777pay Department. The actions of Phan Van Minh and his accomplices constituted the crime of Money Laundering as prescribed in Clause 3, Article 324 of the Penal Code.

The trial is scheduled to last until April 19.