More than 5,700 people were tricked by Alibaba real estate into buying 'ghost' projects

Quoc Thang• November 15, 2021 06:46

Nguyen Thai Luyen - Chairman of Alibaba Real Estate Joint Stock Company and 22 accomplices were accused of defrauding about 5,700 buyers of "ghost" projects, appropriating nearly 2,500 billion VND.

Ho Chi Minh City police have completed the supplementary investigation conclusion, proposing to prosecute Nguyen Thai Luyen (35 years old) and 22 accomplices for the crimes.Fraudulent appropriation of property;Money laundering.

The move comes after thousands more people came forward to report the case following a call from investigators in mid-October. The case now has more than 5,700 victims - 1,600 more than at the beginning of the investigation.

This investigation conclusion also supplements the appraisal results, identifying 257 pieces of yellow metal with the wordsAlibaba Real EstateConfiscated during the search of this company was gold, worth nearly 750 million VND.

In total, Ho Chi Minh City Police have seized 650 plots of land with an area of more than 447 hectares, with a total value according to the latest appraisal results of more than 1,500 billion VND.

Nguyen Thai Luyen at the time of his arrest by Ho Chi Minh City Police. Photo:Police provided

In Ho Chi Minh City, 3 land plots are under the name of Alibaba Real Estate and Nguyen Tan Luc (Luyen's younger brother) in Thu Duc City; 234 land plots in Nhon Trach, Xuan Loc, Long Thanh districts, Bien Hoa City; 369 land plots in Ba Ria - Vung Tau; 44 land plots in Binh Thuan.

During the search, the police temporarily seized more than VND9.2 billion in cash; 20 gold-colored metal bars weighing more than 7.3 kg (the results of the examination showed that all of the above alloys were not gold); 23 cars and motorbikes used by the defendants and suspects; more than VND1.6 billion in house rental deposits; and froze more than VND45 billion in 49 personal accounts and companies established by Nguyen Thai Luyen and his accomplices...

The investigation agency determined that Nguyen Thai Luyen and his accomplices had set up dozens of corporate entities and built 58 "ghost" projects in Dong Nai, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, and Binh Thuan. This group named, divided, and sold the land themselves.

Luyen and his subordinates used multi-level marketing to raise capital, using land in a fake project as bait. When selling to victims, Alibaba Real Estate promised to buy back the land at a higher price with a 30% profit after just one year, or to make a profit immediately after purchase and increase over time. In total, 4,100 customers transferred more than 2,500 billion VND to Luyen's group.

Apart from illegal real estate business activities, Alibaba Company has no other business activities, so the investigation agency determined that "all of the defendants' income sources are illegal".

Police seized evidence during a search of Alibaba company. Photo:Police provided

Accordingly, Nguyen Thai Luyen and his younger brother Nguyen Thai Linh (31 years old, General Director), Huynh Thi Ngoc Nhu (Deputy General Director in charge of training), Dao Thi Thanh Loi (Deputy General Director in charge of human resources), Nguyen Le Hoang Lan (Deputy General Director in charge of communications), Nguyen Huynh Tu Trinh (legal officer) and 14 directors and leaders of Alibaba's subsidiaries were proposed to be prosecuted for the crime.Fraudulent appropriation of property.

In addition to this crime, Luyen's wife and younger brother Vo Thi Thanh Mai, Nguyen Thai Luc; accountant Huynh Thi Kim Thang were accused ofMoney laundering.