Cross-border fraud, 41 subjects prosecuted

On February 3, according to information from the Ministry of Public Security, the authorities prosecuted a total of 41 defendants, seized hundreds of phones, laptops and many documents and evidence in the case of cross-border fraud and appropriation of assets using high technology. Initially, the subjects were identified as having defrauded more than 13,000 victims nationwide, with the amount of money appropriated more than 1,000 billion VND.

The case was "unveiled" thanks to the feat of the Bac Ninh Provincial Police Department, which presided over it, in coordination with the Ministry of Public Security's professional departments and 11 local police departments. Lieutenant General Pham The Tung, member of the Standing Committee of the Central Public Security Party Committee and Deputy Minister of Public Security, sent a letter of commendation to the Director of the Bac Ninh Provincial Police Department, praising the successful destruction of the group of suspects.

Initially, the police agency determined that the group of subjects operated in the Tam Thai Tu area, Ba Vet city (Svay Rieng province, Cambodia) by impersonating ward-level police, district-level police, tax, electricity and education officials, calling victims to request them to update their citizen identification information, submit online admission applications, have health check-ups, declare taxes, etc.

Then, the subjects took over the phone and appropriated money in the victim's bank account.

Authorities determined that the number of victims in the case was very large because the subjects had devised sophisticated scenarios to lure and entice victims. Among the subjects, Pham Thi Huyen Trang (26 years old, Tien Lang, Hai Phong) was identified as a senior manager, playing the role of "building the scenario", training and coaching many subordinates. Pham Thi Huyen Trang was discovered and arrested while she was returning to Vietnam from Cambodia for Tet.

In addition to Pham Thi Huyen Trang, the key suspects in the ring arrested include: Nguyen Van Manh (36 years old, Ha Long city, Quang Ninh province); Do Van Nghia (25 years old, Luc Nam district, Bac Giang province); Dinh Nhu Quynh (23 years old, Thanh Thuy district, Phu Tho province); Nguyen Duc Toan (32 years old, An Duong district, Hai Phong city).

The subjects operated with sophisticated methods and clearly assigned tasks to each subject in charge of specialized work. Initially, the authorities determined that from May 2024 to present, the subjects had appropriated nearly 1,000 billion VND from more than 13,000 victims nationwide. Of which, more than 300 victims in Bac Ninh were appropriated with an amount of over 31 billion VND.