A transnational money laundering ring recently uncovered in Vietnam has led to charges against seven people. Police seized several luxury cars, land certificates, savings books and colored metal items.
Pham The Tung, deputy minister of public security and a senior general, sent a commendation letter to the Cybersecurity Department, the External Relations Department and Phu Tho Provincial Police. He praised their work in breaking up a group involved in money laundering and the illegal cross-border transport of currency.
According to Phu Tho police, the scheme involved a group of foreigners who posed as bank employees and called companies in Japan to take control of their accounts.
In mid-March 2025, 15 Japanese citizens fell victim to the fraud. They transferred about 707 million yen, equivalent to 117 billion dong, to three bank accounts belonging to DEEP IMPACT, VENTURE INVESSTORS and LUNA DEVELOPMENT, which were controlled by the criminal group.
After obtaining the illicit funds, the suspects tried to erase their tracks and move the money out of Japan through contacts in Vietnam.
The Vietnamese participants immediately converted all the money into crypto assets, including USDT and ETH, then sent it back to the foreign criminal group. They received an illicit fee of 1% to 2% for each transaction.
Police said the ring had operated secretly for many years. By the time it was dismantled, some suspects had used personal accounts to move funds worth several trillion dong.
The suspects also destroyed evidence and prepared scripts to deal with law enforcement. They used many intermediary accounts and combined the transfers with crypto asset transactions. This made it harder to verify the activity, trace the money and collect electronic evidence.
After the investigation, Phu Tho Provincial Police charged seven Vietnamese citizens. Three were held in custody on money laundering charges. The other four were barred from leaving their places of residence while they were investigated for illegally transporting currency across the border.
Authorities also seized six smartphones, one tablet, a Mercedes-Benz car, three savings books worth a total of 6 billion dong, five land certificates, and gold and silver items.
In his commendation letter, Pham The Tung said the Ministry of Public Security leadership considered the operation an outstanding success. He said it showed a high level of responsibility, tactical ability and professional training among the units fighting money laundering and transnational crime. He also said the operation strengthened Vietnam's standing and reputation internationally.
The deputy minister ordered an urgent expansion of the case, the strengthening of the evidence and the prosecution of the suspects under the law.
Sources: Thanh Niên
