The tragedy of falling into a scam involving 'raising capital for real estate investment'.

Billion-dollar scam

On the last day of the year, we met Ms. Phan Thi Ch. (38 years old, Le Loi Ward, Vinh City) at her convenience store located beneath a high-rise apartment building. Every time she mentioned the more than 14 billion VND she was scammed out of, Ms. Ch. seemed on the verge of fainting. Although she runs a convenience store, for over six months now, her shop has been intermittently closed. Many times, when customers came to buy something, she didn't even bother to sell. She was constantly distracted, the enormous sum of money flashing through her mind.

"I don't know how many generations of my family would have to run a grocery store to earn that much money," Ms. Ch. sobbed. This woman is one of dozens of victims of Nguyen Thuy Quynh (29 years old, residing in Ben Thuy ward, Vinh City). Since being scammed out of money, Ms. Ch.'s family life has been almost turned upside down. The couple constantly argues.

Ms. Ch. said that she met Quynh after collecting clothes from her apartment building to take to Quynh's laundry shop to earn a little extra money. In early 2021, Ms. Ch. had saved up some money and planned to borrow more to buy a car. Knowing that Ms. Ch. had money, Quynh suggested raising capital to invest in real estate.

"She said her father had extensive connections and knew of many profitable projects. Just give Quỳnh the money, and after a short time, when the land is sold, you'll get a share of the profits based on your investment," Ms. Ch. recounted.

Knowing that Quynh was the daughter of a well-known restaurant owner in Vinh City, she had no suspicions whatsoever and transferred all her savings to Quynh.

The victims stand outside Quynh's father's restaurant hoping to get their money back. Photo: HT

Initially, Quynh regularly sent small amounts of money to Ms. Ch., claiming it was profit from land investments, and constantly urged her to contribute more capital. Believing it was easy to make money, Ms. Ch. borrowed many land ownership certificates from relatives to mortgage at the bank, using the money to transfer to Quynh for "real estate investment."

“During the fundraising process, because I trusted her so much, I didn't investigate the projects Quỳnh's father was actually undertaking. Only when I asked for the money back did Quỳnh evade me. In April 2022, when I couldn't contact her anymore, I realized I had been scammed. Before that, I thought it was just because we were close that Quỳnh invited me to invest. But later I found out there were dozens of people like that... The majority of that money, over 14 billion VND, was borrowed from relatives, and for months now I don't know how to explain it to them,” Ms. Ch. said.

According to our investigation, to date, 22 people have filed complaints accusing Nguyen Thuy Quynh of embezzling a total of approximately 160 billion VND. The largest amount is claimed by a woman in Quang Trung ward, totaling over 37 billion VND. Quynh's victims are not limited to Vinh City; she has also lured many others to her hometown in Ha Tinh province.

Among the victims, some were even close relatives of Quynh. Nguyen Ngoc KL (residing in Ky Phong commune, Ky Anh district, Ha Tinh province) is one of them. Recently, Ms. KL filed a complaint with the police, accusing her cousin of defrauding her of over 20 billion VND using a similar method. Sharing with a reporter from Nghe An Newspaper, Ms. KL said that her father is the younger brother of Quynh's father. The two sisters have always been very close.

“In November 2021, I received an investment offer from Ms. Quynh in real estate, promising a profit-sharing arrangement. Trusting Ms. Quynh and seeing that the investment would be profitable without being overly complicated or disadvantageous, I agreed to invest with her to receive the profits,” Ms. KL recounted, adding that during the “investment” process, Quynh researched land plots, provided price quotes, and handled the land transactions. Ms. KL only had to transfer the investment amount as requested by Quynh. Ms. KL was not informed of the land plot details, area, or location; she was only given the land price, and if she agreed to the price, she transferred the money for the investment.

“In the beginning, when we invested, she would occasionally send me money. She said it was a blessing or profit from selling land. Seeing how easy it was to make money, and since she was family, I trusted her. Many other acquaintances and friends also invested with Quynh. I never imagined she would be so heartless,” said Ms. KL. Once a well-off family in Ky Anh, after being deceived by her cousin, Ms. KL and her husband fell into debt. She had to sell two cars and several plots of land, but still hasn't paid off all the money she raised for Quynh.

Quỳnh was charged with fraud and misappropriation of property but was released on bail because she is raising a young child. Photo: FB

Perfect casing

To lure her "prey," Nguyen Thuy Quynh created a rather perfect facade. A few years ago, Quynh's life wasn't particularly prosperous. After getting married, her father gave her machinery to open a laundry shop in a small alley on Nguyen Du Street. Her husband didn't have a stable job, and the entire family's income depended on this laundry shop. However, for nearly two years now, Quynh's outward life has rapidly changed. She bought a luxury car and frequently spends lavishly like a wealthy, successful young lady. Many victims believe that Quynh used part of their money to fund her extravagant lifestyle, with the aim of luring more "prey."

“Even I, a relative, was deceived by Ms. Quynh's facade. She frequently sent me money to donate to temples. She donated to any temple in need, sparing no expense. At my wedding, she gave me tens of millions of dong. I sell goods online, and she buys from me every now and then, each time worth tens of millions of dong. I thought someone like that couldn't possibly be a scammer,” Ms. KL said.

According to the victims, starting around November 2021, Quynh began aggressively raising capital. By mid-April 2022, having raised a huge sum of money, she disappeared without a trace, leaving the investors devastated. At this point, they realized there was no real estate investment involved; Quynh had simply used money from later investors to pay earlier ones, falsely claiming it was a profit from real estate investments. About half a month later, Quynh suddenly reappeared, declaring bankruptcy and beginning to challenge the victims.

The message is allegedly from Quynh to a victim. Photo: NDCC

Speaking with a reporter from Nghe An Newspaper, a leader of the Criminal Investigation Agency of the Nghe An Provincial Police said that after receiving the complaint, the investigation began. On June 17th, Nguyen Thuy Quynh was charged with "Fraudulent appropriation of property." However, due to having a young child, the suspect was released on bail. She is currently prohibited from leaving her place of residence. Believing there are many more victims, the investigating agency also widely publicized the case to find victims and issued an order to seize assets including 4 plots of land and a Lexus car registered under Quynh and her husband's names, to prevent the assets from being dispersed and to protect the rights of the victims. However, most of these plots of land had already been mortgaged to banks beforehand.

Many victims believe that Quynh showed signs of transferring assets before declaring bankruptcy. The victims also obtained bank statements from Quynh's account, revealing many suspicious transactions just before she "revealed her hand." Accordingly, in a short period, Quynh repeatedly transferred hundreds of billions of VND to many acquaintances and friends. Among them, a mother and daughter in Kon Tum province received nearly 120 billion VND; a close friend of Quynh's in Vinh City received over 160 billion VND from her account… According to the victims, these were unusual transactions.

"We want the investigating agency to clarify these transactions. Was there collusion to commit fraud? We suspect that this is the money Quỳnh defrauded us of," said one victim.

Tran Van Giang (residing in Truong Thi ward) was also prosecuted for a similar scam. (Photo: Archival image)

The scam involving soliciting real estate investment funds is not new, but many victims still fall for it. In Vinh City, on October 28th, Tran Van Giang (38 years old, residing in Truong Thi ward) was prosecuted and temporarily detained for a similar scam. Before his arrest, Giang was a land management officer in Hung Dung ward. According to the investigation, Giang, under the guise of being a land management officer, created a facade of wealth and success. He told many acquaintances that he was a land management official and therefore knew information about land plots that the owners wanted to buy or sell, then persuaded them to invest money. After collecting approximately 25 billion VND, Giang proactively submitted his resignation and intended to flee. The investigation revealed that the information about the land plots Giang provided to the victims was false; Giang did not contact the owners of these land plots to buy or sell them. All the land, houses, and cars that the suspect used to "show off" to the victims had been mortgaged to the bank... All of this was simply to gain the victims' trust. After receiving money from the victims, Giang embezzled it and used it to pay off debts and for personal expenses.