The 'unique' process of the production line of more than 100 tons of fake books in Hanoi

At the press conference of Hanoi City Police on the afternoon of January 14, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Tien Thang - Head of the Internal Political Security Department provided more specific information about the methods and tricks of the production and trading ring of a large number of fake books, which was uncovered by the Internal Political Security Department in coordination with the Investigation Security Department of Hanoi City Police.

Every day, 50-70 million VND worth of fake books are sold.

Previously, through the work of grasping the situation, the Internal Political Security Department discovered that Nguyen Tien Dat (born 1993), from Tam Nong, Phu Tho; residing in Nam Trung Yen Urban Area, Yen Hoa Ward, Cau Giay, Hanoi and his wife were suspected of producing and trading fake books in very large quantities.

Subjects: Nguyen Tien Dat, Pham Thanh Long, Dinh Van Thinh (from left to right).

The unit has deployed the work of verifying people's identities and backgrounds, using professional measures to grasp the situation of illegal book production and trading activities of the subjects to have a basis to determine the authenticity of the books.

It was determined that Dat and Phan Thanh Long (born in 1999), from Tam Nong, Phu Tho, residing in Quoc Oai district, Hanoi, are Dat's nephews and Dinh Van Thinh (born in 1993), residing in Quoc Oai district, contributed capital to work together. Long is responsible for managing the work at the printing and photocopying workshop, Dat is responsible for operating all production and sales activities.

Nguyen Tien Dat created dozens of pages on social networks like Facebook, Tiktok... to sell books without invoices or documents, suspected of being pirated in large quantities and generating huge revenue.

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Tien Thang answers the press.

On December 20, 2022, implementing the direction of the Hanoi City Police Department, the Investigation Security Agency presided over, along with the Internal Political Security Department, coordinating with professional units to urgently search 8 locations that are residences, advertising offices and online sales offices, printing facilities, photocopying facilities, document photocopying machines, finished product packaging and warehouses for storing counterfeit books. The results of the seizure were more than 100 tons of books, about 400 books of all kinds with 392,006 books, along with many machines, equipment, and means used to produce and trade counterfeit books.

Some books are counterfeit.

This is the largest seizure of pirated books ever discovered and fought by the Hanoi City Police. Every day, the subjects sell about 300-400 orders with a quantity of 300-600 books, with a total value of 50 to 70 million VND. The types of books are diverse, mainly popular books on the market such as: How to Win Friends and Influence People, Jewish Wisdom, Reading Anyone, How Much Youth Is Worth, A Thousand Lives of Humanity... Notably, as soon as the books were published and sold well, fake books immediately appeared for sale, causing outrage in society as well as for publishers and genuine bookmakers.

Police searched the office where the order was closed.

The subjects close 300-400 orders per day.

Dat said that depending on the type of book and the number of pages, the profit is calculated as follows: The production cost of each book accounts for 30% of the actual value of the real book sold on the market. Then Dat will sell the difference in price from 5-7 thousand VND/book depending on the type.

Since starting to produce and trade fake books in April 2021 until now, this subject does not remember the specific amount of profit because he is in the process of investing and producing, so the money from the goods sold is used to invest in machinery and warehouses. He only knows that the amount of illegal profit is billions of dong and the subject used a part to reinvest. The production and sale of books did not have a printing contract or invoices.

Closed process, online sales, concealed information

Lieutenant Colonel Ngo Xuan Hai - Deputy Head of Internal Political Security Department said that the difficulty in detecting and dismantling this network is that the production and distribution of fake books is carried out in a closed process, from production, advertising to distribution, different from the methods of other subjects before. The printing factory and photocopying facility are invested and owned by the subjects themselves to produce pirated books, so the operation process is always closed, the location is far from the center, there is no signboard and strangers are not allowed in or out.

Printing factories and photocopying facilities for fake books.

The warehouses are scattered in many remote locations, separate from the production facilities, some are in deserted areas, always closed. The subjects divide the stages associated with many different locations, for example, the office in Cau Giay, the printing factory and photocopying facility in Quoc Oai district; the book warehouse and repackaging facility in Thach That district... The transportation between the production facility, warehouse and repackaging facility is carried out by private trucks, including refrigerated trucks, in the evening, when it is less likely to be noticed, with people on guard to deal with the authorities.

In addition, the process of advertising and selling products through online sales channels on social networks such as Facebook, Tiktok... the subjects conceal personal information. Delivering goods through express delivery companies, concealing book delivery addresses, posting fake addresses in other provinces... makes it difficult for the police to investigate and verify. In addition, payment accounts, vehicle registration... do not use the information of the main subjects...

Photocopying facilities are often "closed" and the book warehouse is isolated, far from the center to avoid surveillance by authorities.

Based on the initial investigation results, the Hanoi City Police Department of Security Investigation has initiated a case of "Nguyen Tien Dat and accomplices producing and trading counterfeit goods in Hanoi City" and prosecuted 3 suspects: Nguyen Tien Dat, Phan Thanh Long, Dinh Van Thinh for the act of producing and trading counterfeit goods, as prescribed in Article 192 of the 2015 Penal Code.

The Head of the Internal Political Security Department of Hanoi City Police affirmed that the unit will continue to coordinate with functional departments of sectors and units, and the Police of districts, towns to strengthen the work of detecting and combating the production and trading of fake books, especially online sales methods, production and distribution of publications that are not allowed to be published or distributed in Vietnam.

Inside the large warehouses with a "huge" amount of fake books.

"This phenomenon is happening on different scales, even on a small scale, not following the previous method but using modern fast printing and photocopying means" - Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Tien Thang assessed and suggested that publishers and bookmakers continue to detect signs of violations of this activity to exchange and coordinate with functional agencies, including the Public Security force, to combat and handle violations...

At the same time, the police agency will also recommend that the authorities strengthen the management of online business activities, ensure compliance with the law, and contribute to preventing the use of this method to trade in counterfeit, smuggled, and banned goods...