Man sentenced to life imprisonment for swindling tens of billions of Vietnamese dong from Cambodian sources.
From "kingpin" running a cross-border fraud company to defendant in court, Phan Van Phuong has received a life sentence for embezzling tens of billions of Vietnamese dong from citizens.
On October 15th, after a period of deliberation, the People's Court of Nghe An province announced its verdict.Sentencing of 33 defendants in the "Fraudulent appropriation of property" case.This occurred in Cambodia. The ring was led by Phan Van Phuong (born in 1991), residing in Quang Dong commune (formerly Yen Thanh district), Nghe An province, who colluded with foreign individuals to establish a fraudulent "company," swindling over 14 billion VND from Vietnamese people.
Phan Van Phuong lived in Cambodia and Myanmar for many years, so he became acquainted with a Taiwanese man who called himself A Minh. This man introduced himself as the owner of "companies" that defrauded Vietnamese citizens by impersonating officials from state agencies such as the police, prosecutor's office, and court.
After discussing the organizational structure, operations, and profit-sharing ratio, Phuong agreed to cooperate with A Minh to establish a fraudulent company.
On December 18, 2022, Phuong returned to Vietnam to meet and contact several people, including relatives, friends, and acquaintances, to recruit them to work in fraud in Cambodia.
The first people involved were Doan Van Tung (born in 1990, Phuong's cousin), Hua Canh The (born in 1995, residing in Yen Thanh commune, Phuong's brother-in-law), Nguyen Trong Thong (born in 1996, residing in Quang Dong commune), Ho Quoc Tuan, Thai Sy Van (born in 1987, residing in Quang Dong commune), Dang Duy Quang (born in 1978, residing in Van Du commune), Nguyen Thi Sen, Thai Huu Vinh, and Nguyen Duy Quyen.
Promised "easy work, high pay," with all initial expenses covered by the company, many other people from the former districts of Yen Thanh, Thanh Chuong, and Con Cuong contacted them to work in Cambodia.
On March 11, 2023, Phuong and the other suspects left the country for Cambodia, went to the company's headquarters in a 17-story building in Sihanoukville, Phnom Penh, and began learning the script for their scam.
The perpetrators used various scenarios, calling people to threaten them with involvement in drug trafficking or money laundering rings, and threatening to arrest them.
When people expressed fear and tried to explain, the perpetrators demanded that they disclose which bank account they were using, how much money they had, and then asked them to cooperate with authorities to prove that their money was not related to any criminal activity. Afterward, the perpetrators demanded that people transfer money to a bank account provided by the company, or provide the OTP code, or withdraw money from their savings accounts.
The company has a tightly structured and well-organized operation consisting of many departments and levels, with specific roles and responsibilities, each department being an indispensable part of the fraudulent process.
Besides the owner, A Minh, the company also has managers, translators, and Vietnamese employees assigned to groups D1, D2, and D3 who directly make phone calls to carry out the fraudulent activities.
In this scheme, D1 would call to locate the victim and then transfer the call to D2 to manipulate their psychology. D2 would then transfer the call to D3 to carry out the act of seizing the victim's assets. The employees received salaries, commissions, and living expenses paid by the company from the money obtained through fraud.
Investigators determined that from April 2023 to January 2024, using the aforementioned methods, the suspects defrauded five Vietnamese victims of over 14.1 billion VND. Among them, an elderly victim in Ho Chi Minh City was defrauded of nearly 9 billion VND by this ring.
At the trial, the defendants admitted to their crimes. Justifying their actions, the defendants stated that due to difficult family circumstances and a lack of stable employment, they went abroad to commit fraud. They admitted knowing that their actions were illegal but, driven by greed, defrauded Vietnamese citizens.
The panel of judges concluded that the defendants' actions violated the law, were dangerous to society, and caused public outrage, therefore requiring strict punishment to serve as a deterrent.
After considering the role of each defendant in the case, the panel of judges sentenced Phan Van Phuong to life imprisonment; Thai Huu Vinh and Nguyen Duy Quyen each received 16 years in prison, and defendants Doan Van Tung and Le Thi Sen each received 15 years in prison. The remaining defendants received sentences ranging from 7 to 13 years in prison.
