Businessman robbed of 35 billion VND in virtual currency was once kidnapped

The Criminal Police Department (C02, Ministry of Public Security) completed the investigation into the behavior of Ho Ngoc Tai, 32 years old, and 15 others, and transferred the case file to the Supreme People's Procuracy to propose prosecution for the crime.Robbery, June 5.

Tai and his accomplices are Bitcoin investors in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang. The victim, Mr. Le, a businessman in Saigon, participated in trading virtual currency with Tai's group but later had a conflict and was robbed of Bitcoin by them in the middle of last year.

Some suspects in the robbery. Photo: Provided by the police.

According to the investigation, in 2018, after a long time investing in Bitcoin, Tai and Tran Ngoc Hoang (38 years old) sold all of this type and switched to buying emerging virtual currencies such as Aureus, Ifans... but lost everything.

The two investors said that they followed Mr. Le's instructions and planned to find and claim the 1,000 lost Bitcoins. Unable to find him, Tai hired private detective Mai Xuan Phot to search for him for 25 million VND. In addition, Tai also invited Trinh Tuan Anh (36 years old, also in the virtual currency business) to join in claiming Mr. Le's money, promising to share 30% of the recovered Bitcoins.

To start the plan, Tai sent personal information, photos of Mr. Le's car and transferred 50 million VND to the group to cover the search costs. Phot used many illegal high-tech devices, set up surveillance, and knew all the schedules of Mr. Le's family.

On May 11, 2020, Tai and some friends from Da Nang went to Ho Chi Minh City. This person met Phot to confirm the "prey's" route and discussed staging a car crash, capturing him to seize his phone with a virtual currency account worth tens of billions of dong.

On May 12, 2020, through GPS tracking, they found that Mr. Le's car was driving to an apartment building in District 2, so they split up to follow. When they reached Thoi Dai Bridge (Thach My Loi Ward), Phot drove his motorbike into the front of Le's car and argued, demanding that the driver get out to resolve the matter. Tai's group pretended to be nearby, waiting for the victim to get out of the car before rushing over. However, Mr. Le was alert, so he backed up the car, dodged Phot, and sped away.

The victim's phone was robbed and money was transferred. Photo: Provided by the police.

Five days later, knowing that Mr. Le and his family were returning to Saigon from Bao Loc City, Tai and his accomplices continued their ambush. The group followed him in many cars on the Long Thanh - Dau Giay highway. When they reached Dau Giay town (Dong Nai province), one car overtook Mr. Le's car and blocked the way, while another car crashed into the back of the car.

Mr. Le and his brother-in-law got out of the car, and were immediately subdued by Tai's group, who pulled out guns and controlled them. The remaining people forced Mr. Le's wife and children into another car, threatening them with syringes containing red ink (pretending to be HIV blood). They forced Mr. Le to reveal the password to access his e-wallet or else they would inject HIV blood into his wife and children.

During the more than 2 hours of traveling back to Ho Chi Minh City, the group continued to beat Le, forcing him to call his brother to transfer another 1,000 Bitcoins to them. While talking, Le shouted loudly, making his brother at home suspicious and not transferring the money.

Arriving at a deserted area in District 2, the group abandoned Mr. Le’s family and the car on the side of the road, taking the phone and dash cam to destroy the evidence to erase the traces. The victim’s family freed themselves and called the police for help.

Tai sold part of the virtual currency for 19 billion VND, divided a little among the participating group, and kept 5 billion for spending.

* Victim's name has been changed.