USDT 'black market' with $10m daily volume busted in northern Vietnam

The illegal trading network is linked to a transnational online gambling operation, according to officers.

USDT trading network uncovered

Police said several Chinese nationals had established a closed-loop money transfer system in Vietnam.

Several Vietnamese nationals were hired to open bank accounts in their names. Each account holder was paid about VND5 million ($190) a month.

The group rented apartments to process money from online gambling activities.

Employees worked three shifts around the clock to receive, sort and transfer the money.

The operation was managed remotely through closed Telegram groups.

The online gambling network generated tens of trillions of Vietnamese dong from June 2025 until it was uncovered. (VND1 trillion = $38.27 million)

Le Trung Hieu was responsible for receiving money generated by the gambling operation and converting it into USDT.

Hieu traded directly with multiple USDT dealers through Telegram, following instructions from the network's leaders.

He bought large amounts of USDT and transferred them to digital wallets controlled by the criminal group.

Police identified Hoang Hai Van, born in 1984 and residing in Hanoi, and Chau Duc Lam, born in 1989 and residing in Da Nang, as two major USDT suppliers to Hieu.

More than 20 other people were also identified as regular USDT suppliers.

$7-10 million in daily transactions

Van was identified as a major USDT trader on the informal market.

He operated a trading system with staff responsible for price quotes, debt records, payments and customer management.

Van also operated a private Telegram channel for high-value USDT traders.

He used four to five digital wallets a day for $7-10 million worth of USDT transactions, replacing all of them each week to conceal transaction records.

The group also used AI to produce Q&A materials instructing members how to respond to inspections, summonses and investigations.

Hai Phong police have launched a criminal case on charges of gambling, organizing gambling and money laundering.

Officers have prosecuted and detained 32 people in connection with the case.

Nine people were charged with money laundering, while 23 were charged with organizing gambling.

Authorities seized more than 200 mobile phones and froze 2,003 bank accounts at 36 banks.

The frozen accounts held more than VND3 trillion ($114 million) in total.