'Trapping' job seekers and then tricking them into selling them to a gambling ring in Cambodia
According to an agreement with a representative of a Chinese-owned business, Thao lured the victims to Cambodia to work in an IT consulting company with high salaries, but in reality, he sold them into online gambling rings...
On the afternoon of December 4, the People's Court of Da Nang City sentenced Ly Phuong Thao (born in 1986, residing in District 10, Ho Chi Minh City) to 16 years in prison for "Human trafficking". According to the indictment, Ly Phuong Thao is a Chinese interpreter and has traveled to Cambodia many times to work for Chinese companies, with "headquarters" near the Vietnamese border.
During her time working here, Thao learned that many Chinese companies were in need of recruiting workers for gambling networks, so in December 2020, she proactively contacted them and asked to be a broker to receive commission. According to the agreement, Thao received a commission of 300-500 USD/worker. The remaining costs incurred during the transfer process will be paid back to Thao by the company.
Defendant Ly Phuong Thao at the trial on the afternoon of December 4.
Ly Phuong Thao provided false information that she needed to recruit workers to go to Cambodia to enter data for an IT consulting company and to search for and take care of customers. In order to "trap" those who were looking for work, Thao advised them that they would receive a monthly salary of 850-1,200 USD depending on the working time, a salary increase after 3 months, the company would take care of the cost of leaving the country and accommodation, and they could go home to visit their families during Tet...
With this trick, in December 2020, Thao tricked 9 citizens from Da Nang and some other localities into Ho Chi Minh City to illegally exit the country with Thao to Cambodia through unofficial routes, thereby earning a profit of 2,700 USD. When arriving at the workplace, these workers had their ID cards confiscated by the management and were asked to sign some documents in Cambodian or Chinese (the content of these documents is unknown).
Next, they were forced to use social networks to attract and guide players in Vietnam to gamble in the form of playing online games for money. The wages the workers received were much lower than the promised wages, the average working hours were from 11 to 12 hours, some days they had to work overtime until 2-3 am to finish. If they did not work enough time, they were fined from 1,000 to 2,000 USD each time.
Workers were “confined” in a closed area of the company, with a fence outside and always guarded by security guards. Those who did not work effectively or did not obey the Chinese management were sold to other companies... After a period of working, some workers escaped and returned to their country to denounce Ly Phuong Thao’s illegal acts.
