Police from the Ministry of Public Security have indicted a Taiwanese man and his five Vietnamese accomplices at a Hanoi-based company on swindling charges after the group set up an illegal gold trading floor.

>> Vietnam nabs two Taiwanese posing as law enforcers in swindling scheme The information was released by the ministry’s General Department of Crime Prevention and Control (GDCPC) at a conference held in Hanoi yesterday. Hsu Minh Jung, 39, also known as Saga, the general director of the Khai Thai Investment Consulting Company Limited; Doan Thi Luyen, 27, managing director of the company; Nguyen Manh Linh, 27, a director of the company; and Trinh Hoa Binh, 39, the company’s chief accountant, have been arrested on charges of “appropriating property through swindling” pursuant to Article 139 of the Penal Code. Two other Vietnamese people, the managing directors of the company’s branches at the Plaschem Building and the Lotte Building in Hanoi, were also charged with the same offense. Initial investigations showed that the foreign CEO and his accomplices illegally set up a gold trading floor to mobilize nearly VND478 billion (US$22.53 million) at high interest rates from investors, and then appropriated most of the funds, police said. During a search of the company’s offices on October 1, police seized VND57 billion (nearly $2.69 million) and a large amount of foreign currency. Thousands of people from around the country have deposited their money with the company expecting to receive a profit in return, investigators said. Lieutenant General Tran Trong Luong, deputy head of the GDCPC , said that Jung and his accomplices used sophisticated methods to successfully swindle their victims through capital mobilization in terms of investment trust.  The company also offered lofty salaries and attractive bonuses to its employees in charge of capital mobilization to encourage them to seek investors, Luong said. After receiving deposits from investors, the company’s management did not use them for business operations, but appropriated them instead. The police also froze VND4 billion ($188,560) in the company’s accounts and seized three deluxe cars from the company, the official said. Investigators said they are working on data collected from the company to determine the number of victims and the exact amount of money appropriated, and track down others involved in the case.

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