“Vietnam: Securities Fraud Results in Life Imprisonment for Chairman and Director Convicted of Embezzling over a Hundred Billion Dong”

In August 2023, the People’s Court of Da Nang City sentenced Le Trong Linh (born 1989, residing in Hoa Khanh Ward, Da Nang City) and Truong Quoc Thai (born 1986, residing in Son Tra Ward, Da Nang City) to life imprisonment for “fraudulent appropriation of property.”

According to the indictment, in 2014, Linh asked someone else to stand in his name to receive the transfer of shares of PMW Investment Joint Stock Company. In 2016, he changed the company’s name to Vietnam Capital Financial Joint Stock Company and conceived a plan to mobilize savings deposits. From March 2016, Linh started recruiting employees, opening transaction offices, and directly organizing, directing, and instructing employees to implement savings consulting and receiving savings deposits from customers according to the products he created, including traditional, daily, and monthly savings.

Most customers chose to deposit traditional savings with terms of 6, 12, or 24 months, with interest rates ranging from 5.4% to 18% per year. To attract depositors, Linh applied promotional programs such as gold and cash gifts.

In November 2017, Linh appointed Thai as the director, in charge of transaction offices in Thanh Khe, Hai Chau, Son Tra, and Quang Nam (former province), while Linh directly managed the Song Han transaction office. Following Linh’s instructions, Thai managed the staff, continued to consult and receive savings deposits, and distributed interest, principal, salaries, and operating expenses. The remaining balance was transferred to Linh, or he received supplementary money when there was a shortage.

To build trust, Linh and Thai instructed their employees to provide false information, claiming that Vietnam Capital Financial Joint Stock Company was a “subsidiary of an international financial group, ranked among the top 10 reputable companies, and licensed to engage in receiving deposits. They also asserted that the deposits were insured, and the interest rates were always higher than those offered by banks.”

The investigation results showed that, at the time of the prosecution, the company had 308 savings customers. The Da Nang City Police Investigation Agency identified 288 victims, with the appropriated amount exceeding VND 139 billion. The remaining cases included those who had settled their accounts, did not cooperate, or could not be located.

The appropriated money was used by Linh and Thai for stock investment, lending, pawning, bank savings, and personal business, but all resulted in losses or meager profits, insufficient to pay the promised interest.

Since the end of 2020, the two defendants have been using new depositors’ money to pay off previous ones. By January 2023, despite their inability to make payments, Thai and Linh continued to open new transaction offices, providing false information to defraud and appropriate money, causing severe consequences for 288 victims.