Vietnamese man arrested for defrauding police officers in 16 provinces

The suspect, identified as Quach Van Lap, 40, from Dai Dong Commune in Phu Tho Province, northern Vietnam, was detained for fraud and asset appropriation, Lai Chau police announced on Wednesday.

Investigators said Lap had previously worked as a porter near the Bac Luan border gate in the northern province of Quang Ninh, where he became familiar with smuggling operations.

Exploiting that knowledge, he posed as a citizen offering insider information about smuggling networks and contacted police officers through text messages and Zalo, a popular Vietnamese messaging app.

Pretending to have 'valuable intelligence' on smuggling routes from Mong Cai in Quang Ninh to Hanoi and other provinces, Lap gained the trust of officers and asked them to send between VND5 million ($190) and VND10 million ($380) per case to cover 'travel expenses and equipment for information gathering.'

Once the money was transferred, he immediately cut contact and disappeared.

On November 2, Lap even messaged Colonel Pham Hai Dang, deputy head of the Lai Chau Department of Public Security, claiming to have information about a shipment of smuggled mobile phones from Hanoi to Lai Chau and requesting the phone number of the provincial economic police unit.

Colonel Dang quickly detected irregularities in the message and ordered an investigation, leading to Lap’s identification and arrest shortly afterward.

At the police station, Lap confessed that financial hardship had driven him to impersonate a crime informant to deceive officers.

Since last year, he had carried out dozens of similar scams, stealing nearly VND196 million in total.

Lai Chau police are expanding their investigation and coordinating with local authorities nationwide to uncover additional cases linked to Lap.