Eight defendants have been charged in the fraud case involving Sky Media Company.
On April 8th, the Security Investigation Agency of the Hanoi City Police issued a decision to initiate criminal proceedings and indict eight individuals for the crime of "Fraudulent appropriation of property".
The defendants include Luu Van Tien (born 1979, residing in Ha Dong, Hanoi); Nguyen Trung Tin (born 1999); An Minh Son (born 1985), both residing in Lac Thuy, Phu Tho; Pham Xuan Phuong (born 1979), residing in Khuong Dinh, Hanoi; Vu Thi Thanh Thuy (born 1989), residing in Duong Noi, Hanoi; Pham Thi Tuyet Hong (born 1983), residing in Ha Dong, Hanoi; Luong Thi Mai (born 1988), residing in Binh Minh, Hanoi; and Nguyen Tai Minh (born 1979), residing in Yen So ward, Hanoi, for the crime of "Fraudulent appropriation of property".
The Security Investigation Agency determined that, starting in 2025, Minh, Tien, and Son established Sky Media Technology Communication Joint Stock Company, headquartered at No. 7D, LK19 Van Phuc Service Area, Ha Dong Ward, Hanoi City - hereinafter referred to as Sky Media Company. Subsequently, the suspects exploited people's lack of knowledge about information technology by offering them 50,000 VND per day for viewing an advertising application (the Sky Media application was installed on phones of unknown origin, not available on the Appstore or CHPlay app stores). This was done to appeal to the psychology of "passive, regular daily income," building trust among buyers and selling mobile phones at prices many times higher than the market price (the original price was approximately 3 million VND/phone, but the selling price to the public ranged from 12 million VND to over 18.3 million VND/phone).
Subsequently, the perpetrators promised buyers substantial profits through a multi-level marketing scheme, using money from earlier investors to pay later ones, but in reality, they did not pay their customers. Currently, the Security Investigation Department of the Hanoi City Police has identified approximately 1000 people nationwide participating in this community, thereby defrauding individuals of over 10 billion VND.
The Security Investigation Agency determined that Minh and Tien were the masterminds, leading and managing all activities related to attracting customers and selling phones to defraud buyers. Tin was the nominal Director of Sky Media Company, assisting in installing the "Sky Media" software on the phones, receiving a salary of 10 million VND per month. Son was the manager of the Sky Media software, assisting in running the software and benefiting from payments made by Minh.
Phuong is the key contact person (S5) assisting the development group in finding customers. Hong is the key contact person (S4) assisting the development group in finding customers; to date, she has not admitted to benefiting from this.
As an accountant at Sky Media Company, Thuy assisted in the company's operations and received benefits for registering and downloading the app: monthly payments; an additional 25% of income generated from over 3600 devices… To develop the market, Tien recruited Pham Xuan Phuong (referred to as S5) as the customer team leader. Phuong recruited Mai and Hong (both S4) to find customers.
These individuals were directly involved in presentations, training for the branches, direct sales, and using personal accounts to collect money from customers and transfer it to the ringleaders. In addition, Minh collaborated with Tien to purchase phones and agreed on a method to embezzle money from the victims. They then hired Thuy, an accountant at Sky Media Company, to complete the necessary documents related to the phone sales, as well as lend her personal account to the individuals to collect and pay customers, and attend seminars held in various provinces to cover expenses. On April 3rd, the investigating agency arrested Nguyen Tai Minh.
At the Security Investigation Agency, the suspects Minh, Tien, and Son confessed to establishing and operating Sky Media as described above; they did not receive any revenue from advertising companies. Nguyen Trung Tin, Pham Xuan Phuong, Luong Thi Mai, Pham Thi Tuyet Hong, and Vu Thi Thanh Thuy admitted to being hired and directed by Nguyen Tai Minh to set up and run a multi-level marketing business model for selling mobile phones to collect money from customers and profit from it.
Currently, the investigating agency has verified and recorded statements from a number of victims. Further verification is underway to determine the extent of the damage; according to seized documents, there are approximately over 1,000 victims nationwide.
