Vietnam Capital Fraud Case: Unraveling the Deceitful Scheme
A large number of victims attended the trial
On August 11, the People’s Court of Da Nang City opened a trial on a fraud case involving Vietnam Capital Finance Company, with Le Trong Linh (36, from Thanh Hoa) and Truong Quoc Thai (39, from Ben Tre) as the masterminds.
According to the indictment, in 2014, Linh asked others to stand in for him to receive the transfer of shares of PMW Investment Joint Stock Company. In 2016, Linh came up with the idea of mobilizing savings deposits and changed the company’s name to Vietnam Capital Finance Company.
However, as only credit institutions licensed by the State Bank are allowed to accept savings deposits, Linh registered the company’s business line as pawnshop services.
Linh then appointed himself as Chairman of the Board of Directors and hired Thai as the director. Despite registering for a capital increase, neither Linh, Thai, nor the other shareholders contributed any capital or assets to the company. All the company’s assets came from mobilized customer funds.
Starting in March 2016, Linh recruited employees, opened transaction offices, and directly organized and directed the consultancy for receiving savings deposits.
The savings packages designed by Linh had terms of 6-24 months with interest rates ranging from 5.4% to 18% per annum. Linh also directly designed, managed, and signed the issuance of savings certificates.
It was determined that at the time the Da Nang City Police Department’s Investigation Agency handled the case, there were 308 customers who had deposited money with the company.
Vietnam Capital: Exposing the 140 Billion Dong Scam
Le Trong Linh and Truong Quoc Thai in court
During the investigation, the Da Nang Police took statements directly, commissioned investigations to take statements, and issued notices to find the victims through the media.
As a result, they identified and worked with 288 victims, with a total amount of appropriated money reaching VND 139.8 billion.
There were 10 cases where the victims were absent from their places of residence, 6 cases where the victims had already settled and received their money back, 2 cases where the victims did not cooperate and had no requests, and 2 cases where there was no residential information.
From 2020 to 2023, Thai received VND 39.1 billion in mobilized funds from customers, paid interest of VND 11.8 billion, and withdrew the remaining money to give to Linh.
Regarding the money received from Thai, Linh used it for savings deposits at banks, paying interest and principal to customers upon maturity, paying salaries and bonuses, renting premises, and for personal purposes.
The trial is expected to last until August 12.
