Mrs. Khuyen and Mr. Toan. Photo by Hanoi Police
On April 19, Hanoi Police announced that the Criminal Investigation Agency has issued a decision to initiate a case, and conducted an urgent search of the office of Tam Loc Phat Group Joint Stock Company (located at No. 27 – V5A, Van Phu New Urban Area, Phu La Ward, Ha Dong District, Hanoi).
At the same time, an emergency detention order was issued for Nguyen Thi Khuyen (born in 1983), General Director of Tam Loc Phat Group Joint Stock Company, and Van Dinh Toan (born in 1982, both residing in Hanoi), Deputy General Director of the company, to investigate the act of fraud and asset appropriation.
Initial investigation results determined that in June 2019, Nguyen Thi Khuyen and Van Dinh Toan and another person established Tam Loc Phat Media Company Limited. Then changed the name to Tam Loc Phat Group Joint Stock Company (abbreviated as Tam Loc Phat Company).
Afterwards, the subjects created a business model for convenience store chains, garment manufacturing and trading companies, real estate investments, etc., and used the legal entity of Tam Loc Phat Company to mobilize money from investors in the form of business contracts or capital contribution contracts.
Police announce the decisions on prosecution. Photo by Hanoi Police
To build trust and attract investors, Khuyen’s group offered a high brokerage fee to those who referred new investors and paid interest to investors on a daily basis at an interest rate much higher than bank interest rates (about 2.93%/month).
From there, about 50 tier-1 representative offices were established in various localities. On average, the representative offices received 15% of the contract value as soon as the investor signed the contract and paid the money at the office; any office that referred another office received an additional 2% from the contracts of the newly established office; tier-2, tier-3, and tier-4 offices all received a profit share of 15% of the contract value from the tier-1 office. Tier-1 offices in the South received 25% of the contract value from their clients.
According to the Investigation Agency, Khuyen personally directed the company’s general operations, while Toan was in charge of the strategy to focus on market development and organize promotional events in many localities to attract investors. In addition, the subjects also purchased a number of items such as clothing, cooking oil, monosodium glutamate, etc., to demonstrate the company’s business activities.
From 2019 to the present, the subjects have mobilized more than VND 5,100 billion from investors. From September 2023 to the present, Khuyen has been unable to pay the promised interest, has lost the ability to pay, and has misappropriated more than VND 1,000 billion from investors. Of which, it was determined that Nguyen Thi Khuyen and Van Dinh Toan misappropriated more than VND 61 billion from 18 investors who had filed complaints.
