Unmasking the money laundering scheme of a fraud ring in Cambodia.

Organized bank account trading ring

One day in mid-November 2024, Ms. Truong Thi Hoai X. (born in 1952, residing in Nghe An) received a message on Facebook with the same name as her son (who lives and works abroad). Her son said he was working in money transfer services and asked his mother to transfer a total of 700 million VND to a bank account under the name Tran Minh Nhat.

Believing it was her son, Mrs. X borrowed money and asked someone to transfer it. Two days later, she didn't receive the money as promised, so she called her son via Facebook and discovered that the account that messaged her asking for the money transfer was a fake account. Realizing she had been scammed, the woman reported the incident to the Nghe An Police.

After receiving information about the crime, the police verified the information and summoned Tran Minh Nhat, the registered owner of the bank account that received the fraudulent money from Ms. X, for questioning. Nhat stated that he had previously sold the bank account to another individual and that he was not involved in the fraud.

During the investigation, authorities determined that Ms. X. was one of the victims of a criminal ring involved in the illegal collection, exchange, and sale of bank account information and money laundering, operating with new and organized methods, led by Vu Trung Kien (born in 1994, residing in Hung Yen province). In addition, there were accomplices including: Pham Hoang Hiep (born in 1992, residing in Nghe An); Vu Hoang Nha (born in 1984) and Hoang Xuan Truong (born in 1988), both residing in Ninh Binh province; and Duong The Long (born in 1972), residing in Hanoi.

These individuals lacked stable employment, so they colluded to commit crimes. Specifically, on In August 2024, through social media, Duong The Long learned about groups specializing in finding people to rent out bank accounts for 400,000 VND per month. Additionally, if he referred someone else to rent an account, he would receive an extra 200,000 VND per customer. Driven by greed, Long found customers for a group working in Cambodia to rent and buy back the accounts.

The individuals abroad sent Long a file containing instructions on how to open an account and requested the account holder to provide information such as: a video recording of facial movements, a portrait photo, a signature, a photo of their Citizen Identity Card, the username and password for the online banking application, their iCloud account, and the email address used to register the bank account.

Long then recruited and instructed several individuals to participate in the buying and selling of bank account information. Investigators determined that the total number of bank account information that Duong The Long collected from others was 198.

Money laundering for individuals in Cambodia.

Regarding the money laundering activities of Vu Trung Kien, Pham Hoang Hiep, Vu Hoang Nha, and Hoang Xuan Truong, the investigating agency determined that in July 2024, through social media, Kien met a man with a Facebook account named "Long Vu," who worked in Cambodia. Some time later, "Long Vu" messaged Kien saying: "I need to launder money from fraud using the app shutdown tactic."

When Kien inquired about the method, the person explained that they already had mobile phones logged into online banking accounts, video recordings of the account holder's real face, and a "virtual camera simulator" application to play fake videos, in order to bypass the bank's biometric verification process. "Long Vu" would send the phones to Kien to carry out the money laundering immediately after someone transferred money. Hearing this, Kien agreed.

Later, Kien invited his friends Hiep, Nha, and Truong to participate in money laundering activities for fraudsters in Cambodia, receiving a commission of 1.5% of the laundered money. To carry out the money laundering, Kien purchased numerous bank accounts from Dao Van Khanh (born in 2001, residing in Son La province), requiring the sellers to provide complete information to pass the banks' biometric verification process.

After that, Kien transferred all the information to "Long Vu". "Long Vu" then forwarded it to the scammers, while also preparing phones with the bank's Mobile Banking application installed, logging into the purchased account, installing software for "biometric hacking," and then returning the phones to Kien's group to carry out the money laundering operation.

To carry out the money laundering operation, the suspects discussed and agreed on a division of tasks among themselves. Vu Trung Kien's main responsibility was to find and purchase bank accounts. Whenever fraudulent money was transferred into the purchased accounts, Kien would transfer the money to subsequent accounts provided by "Long Vu".

Pham Hoang Hiep was tasked with assisting Kien with installation procedures and troubleshooting issues that arose during the money transfer process. Hiep and Kien managed the phones provided by "Long Vu" to carry out money laundering and receive commissions.

Meanwhile, Vu Hoang Nha was responsible for compiling statistics, calculating the amount of money transferred in and out, and the commission earned by the entire group for each money laundering operation. Hoang Xuan Truong's task was to drive the car transporting the group to various locations across the country to facilitate money laundering activities and avoid detection and surveillance by authorities.

From August to November 2024, Kien's group laundered money for numerous fraud cases, including the case of Ms. Truong Thi Hoai X., who was defrauded of 700 million VND.

Sentencing date

Recently, the Nghe An Provincial People's Court tried the defendants for money laundering and illegally collecting, exchanging, and trading information about bank accounts. During the trial, the defendants admitted to the crimes as charged in the indictment. They confessed that due to a lack of stable employment and greed, they engaged in the buying and selling of bank accounts and money laundering for criminal activities in Cambodia, despite knowing that it violated the law.

The panel of judges concluded that the defendants' criminal acts were dangerous to society, violated the right to privacy of individuals, disrupted order and safety in the financial and banking sector, and facilitated other illegal activities.

The defendants are individuals with full criminal responsibility, fully aware that the illegal buying and selling of bank account information and money laundering for fraudulent activities in Cambodia are prohibited by law, yet they still committed the crime for personal gain. Therefore, it is necessary to severely punish the defendants in a manner commensurate with their criminal acts in order to have an educational effect and contribute to the overall fight against crime.

As the ringleader, defendant Vu Trung Kien was sentenced to 5 years in prison and fined an additional 30 million VND. Defendants Pham Hoang Hiep, Vu Hoang Nha, and Hoang Xuan Truong received 36-month prison sentences; defendant Duong The Long was sentenced to 12 months in prison. The remaining defendants received sentences ranging from 9 months of non-custodial rehabilitation to 9 months of suspended prison sentences.

This case not only demonstrates the sophistication and audacity of cross-border fraud and money laundering rings, but also serves as a profound warning to the public to raise awareness of protecting personal information, absolutely refrain from renting or buying/selling bank accounts, and always carefully verify money transfer requests to avoid becoming victims or inadvertently assisting criminals.