Police in Hanoi have pressed charges against Pho Duc Nam, also known as TikToker Mr. Pips, and 25 other individuals over fraudulent appropriation of properties, failure to report criminal activities, and money laundering, with seized assets worth over US$197 million.

The Hanoi People’s Procuracy and the municipal Department of Public Security said on Friday that they were expanding an investigation into a large-scale online fraud scheme which involved Nam and 25 other suspects, including 34-year-old Le Khac Ngo hailing from Hanoi, after initiating the probe in late October.

Nam, a 30-year-old native of southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, gained fame on TikTok and YouTube for flaunting his lavish lifestyle and giving investment advice.

A police report revealed that in June 2019, Nam colluded with Ngo to set up a fraud racket using a model resembling stock brokerage firms. 

They operated under the guise of companies offering telemarketing, telesales, financial consulting, and international stock brokerage services, promoting stocks from major corporations like Facebook, Apple, Pepsi, Microsoft, and Adidas to lure customers.

They also created a website to recruit employees and project a professional image as a reputable international stock investment advisory firm. 

These employees were trained to approach potential victims, encouraging them to invest through the fraudulent platform.

The suspects expanded their fraud operation by opening many branches in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, and even Cambodia.

Nam and his accomplices used fake company accounts and e-wallets to collect funds from victims who were invited to private chat groups where they were instructed to deposit and withdraw funds.

Victims were then encouraged to make increasingly larger investments with the promise of high returns.

The scammers manipulated trading orders to ensure victims’ accounts would be depleted.

Once victims lost their money, they were enticed to join new platforms with promises of recovering their losses, only to be defrauded again.

The suspects operated a well-organized system with specialized departments for IT, support, administration, and security to carry out their scheme.

During raids on the workplace and residences of the suspects, the law enforcement force seized more than VND5 trillion ($197 million) worth of assets from the fraud operation.

The confiscated items included VND127 billion ($5 million) in cash, savings books totaling VND306 billion ($12 million), 216 kilograms of gold, 128 properties, 30 cars of various types, and bonds valued at VND9 billion ($355,000).

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