The fear of losing money of many people who have joined the 'Million Smiles ecosystem'

Hundreds of people participated

In the past few days, since hearing the news that the headquarters of Trieu Nu Cuoi Joint Stock Company was searched by the police, many people in Tra Lan town (Con Cuong district) have flocked to the "Trieu Nu Cuoi" people's store in Tan Dan village hoping to get their money back. This is the hometown of Ho Quoc Than - Director of Trieu Nu Cuoi Joint Stock Company - who is being investigated by Hanoi City Police for "Fraud and property appropriation".

“Many people came to this store hoping to get free goods or get their money back, but none of them were satisfied,” said a leader of Tra Lan town, adding that all of these people had spent 2.6 million VND to buy the so-called “Social Security Card” from the Million Smiles Joint Stock Company. After spending money to buy the card, people were promised that within 1 year, customers could come to buy preferential, free goods with the amount of 500,000 VND/week, but could only buy on Saturdays and Sundays every week. The card was also valid for 30 days from the date of purchase.

Therefore, many people in Tra Lan town had already spent money to buy the card, but before they could enjoy the benefits, they heard that the company's leader had been summoned, so they went to the store to ask for free purchases or a refund. "I haven't had a chance to enjoy any benefits. Now that the company's leader has been arrested, I don't know if I can get my money back," said a 62-year-old woman in Tan Dan village.

The "Million Smiles" people's store in Tan Dan village is one of dozens of stores opened by the Million Smiles Joint Stock Company. This store was just opened in mid-October. The store mainly sells consumer goods, food, groceries, etc.

According to the leader of the People's Committee of Tra Lan town, Ho Quoc Than left his hometown after finishing school, so the locality does not know what job he does. "As for his brother, he has been a very active village chief in his hometown for a long time, but a few months ago he suddenly neglected his work and quit, saying he was going to Hanoi to help his younger brother. Not long after, when he returned to his hometown, he completely changed, even bringing back several luxury cars. Everyone in the village was amazed. When I heard about the opening of a store and the issuance of so-called social security cards, I found it unusual and objected. But since it is impossible to ban it, I can only ask the police to continue to monitor the situation," said the leader of Tra Lan town.

According to this person, since the morning of December 25, after hearing the news that the company was searched, many people came to the store. “Currently, the store is still operating normally. People came to get their money back or get free goods. We also went down and asked people to enjoy the incentives, but the staff here did not agree. They said that only on weekends, only those with cards can buy free goods under 500,000 VND,” said the leader of Tra Lan town. He added that there are currently no specific statistics, but the locality estimates that hundreds of people have spent money to buy “social security cards” from the Million Smiles Joint Stock Company.

Similar to Con Cuong district, in Tan Ky town (Tan Ky district), many people also flocked to the "Million Smiles" people's store with the hope of returning their "social security cards" to get their money back. According to the reporter's investigation, this store has been operating for many days now, but is expected to open on December 29. However, over the past few months, some employees of the company have been actively advertising, attracting people to participate and buy "social security cards". One employee also advertised on social networks, so far the store in Tan Ky district has sold 300 "social security cards" to people.

“We already bought it, now hearing this news, everyone is confused. But when we took the card to the store to ask for a refund, the staff there did not accept it,” said a resident of Tan Ky town. According to the reporter’s investigation, in Nghe An province, there are 2 “people’s stores” opened by Trieu Nu Cuoi Joint Stock Company.

Signs of fraud

According to the police investigation, Ho Quoc Than (32 years old) established the Trieu Nu Cuoi Joint Stock Company, always introducing himself as the founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors. The company's charter capital according to the business license was 25 billion VND. Before that, Than had no job, but to polish his name, he rented a house, rented a location to set up the company's headquarters in luxurious places, and used luxury cars to gain the trust of investors.

Around mid-April 2024, Than started operating on the Zoom platform, sharing the issuance of the QFS TNCVN quantum coin. In fact, this is a coin issued by Than, not related to the cryptocurrency. The condition for participating in the operation of the Million Smiles "ecosystem" is that individuals and businesses must pay "support" money to own the QFS TNCVN quantum coin at a price of 4-5 million VND/1 QFS for individuals and 39 million VND/1 QFS for businesses.

Than appointed many people to different positions. These people were assigned to give false information about QFS coins to attract individual and corporate investors. According to the advertisement, "QFS coins are guaranteed by... legacies from many sources, families left over for hundreds of years, recognized by 48 countries and will be activated in October and November 2024 in Vietnam; President Ho Quoc Than has taken over a huge source of assets and heritage from the General Department...".

By participating in the "ecosystem", businesses will receive capital support for restructuring and development, without having to mortgage or pay interest. If for any reason, individuals or businesses do not want to continue participating with the company, Than will return the money. By the time the police got involved, about 100 businesses and nearly 400 individuals had bought QFS coins, with a total value of tens of billions of VND. To improve its reputation, Than has built an image of a welfare corporation, for the benefit of the people, to create trust for individual customers and businesses "supporting" the purchase of QFS coins.

The company has opened a chain of "Million Smiles" stores and has put 36 stores into operation in many provinces and cities across the country. Than directed the issuance of "Social Security Cards" with a prepayment of 2.6 million VND. In order to sell more social security cards to people, Than also organized many livestreams on social networking platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and scheduled online meetings on Zoom platform with the participation of many people from different provinces and cities, using Buddhist teachings to introduce, mention the story of social security and Than's wholeheartedness to spread information about the company's activities to many people in the community.

The verification results of the cash flow in the accounts of Ho Quoc Than and Trieu Nu Cuoi Joint Stock Company mainly came from "support" activities through QFS coins. When money was transferred, Than continued to transfer money to the accounts of many different individuals and used it for many purposes to serve the operating costs of Trieu Nu Cuoi Joint Stock Company; open a chain of stores for the people; pay debts... In addition, Than did not have any large sum of money as Than and the employees had presented in online Zoom meetings or to guarantee QFS coins.