Vietnam police charge 3 jewelry store owners in cross-border diamond smuggling investigation

The Ministry of Public Security announced on Tuesday that the investigative police agency of the Department of Public Security of Thanh Hoa Province in north-central Vietnam had prosecuted three owners of jewelry stores and a gem appraisal employee on charges of smuggling.

They are Le Thi Ngoc My, 66, director of Kim Ly Jewelry Gemstone Company and owner of Kim Ly Jewelry Store; Nguyen Thi Lien, 46, director of Ngoc Tam Company and owner of Ngoc Tam Gold Shop; and Hoang Thi Thanh Nga, 46, director of NCA Investment Company and owner of Ngoc Chau Au Jewelry Store.

The other is Tran Tien Nhu Nghi, 37, a gem appraisal employee at PNJ Laboratory Company (P-Lab) in Ho Chi Minh City.

The case is being jointly investigated by police in Thanh Hoa and Ho Chi Minh City.

Investigators said the suspects allegedly employed sophisticated methods to import diamonds illegally into Vietnam.

According to the investigation, they used social media platforms to contact Indian suppliers and arrange purchases before organizing the illegal transportation of diamonds into Vietnam for resale.

They recruited Indian employees to visit jewelry stores directly, introduce products, and negotiate sales with buyers.

Once customers agreed to purchase, dedicated WhatsApp groups were created to handle pricing, orders, delivery arrangements, and communications.

The members of the network were assigned responsibility for supervising deliveries to specific customers.

The diamonds were typically offered at prices about one-third lower than prevailing market rates in Vietnam.

The suspects targeted jewelry retailers and newly established gemstone businesses.

Diamonds concealed in personal luggage

Police said smugglers exploited the small size of diamonds by concealing them in personal luggage, shoes, and clothing before transporting them on flights to Vietnam through Tan Son Nhat, Da Nang, Noi Bai, and Phu Quoc International Airports without customs declarations.

Once inside Vietnam, shipments were sorted according to customer orders and passed through multiple independent intermediaries before reaching buyers.

The investigation found that Indian employees working in Vietnam were equipped with communication devices and tools to manage orders, while all operational decisions, including logistics, shipment schedules, and problem resolution, were monitored and directed from Hong Kong.

The entire process, from marketing and sales to delivery and payment, operated within a closed system coordinated by Indian organizers based in Hong Kong.

Communications were conducted primarily through encrypted applications such as WhatsApp and Viber with automatic message deletion enabled.

Deliveries and payments were reportedly verified using the serial numbers of U.S. dollar banknotes as coded identifiers.

Investigators said these methods created significant challenges in gathering evidence, tracing financial transactions, valuing seized assets, and recovering smuggled goods.

Despite those obstacles, the investigative task force said it had collected sufficient evidence to expand the case and bring additional charges.

High-profile business figures

Nga is a well-known entrepreneur in Vietnam's jewelry and gemstone industry.

She has gained public recognition for designing crowns used in several national beauty pageants, earning the nickname ‘the queen of beauty pageant crowns.’

Nga was also named first runner-up at the 2022 Mrs. Universe pageant.

My, owner of Kim Ly Jewelry Store, one of Ho Chi Minh City's longest-established jewelry businesses, located on An Duong Vuong Street, had been engaged in the jewelry, diamond, and gold business since 1983.

She also previously denied online rumors regarding the store's diamond buyback policies, saying repurchase prices generally differed by only 5-10 percent from the original purchase value, depending on the product.

Diamond smuggling probe puts spotlight on PNJ

On Tuesday afternoon, several jewelry stores in the southern metropolis linked to the investigation closed without announcing a reason or indicating when they would reopen.

The latest charges follow the announcement on July 2 that police in Thanh Hoa had dismantled a cross-border diamond smuggling network allegedly directed by Indian nationals operating from Hong Kong.

Investigators initially charged 22 suspects, searched 20 locations, and seized some 1,100 diamonds along with numerous documents and electronic records.

Since 2024, the network conducted 141 illegal shipments into Vietnam, smuggling more than 28,000 diamonds with an estimated turnover of nearly VND280 billion (US$11 million).

In related news, Cao Thi Ngoc Dung, chairwoman of Vietnam’s listed jewelry maker Phu Nhuan Jewelry JSC (PNJ), told investors on July 6 that the 28,000 smuggled diamonds under investigation never entered PNJ’s distribution system.

She made the statement during an online meeting with investors after Dang Ngoc Thao, former director of PNJ’s wholly-owned gemstone certification subsidiary P-Lab, was charged and detained in the transnational diamond smuggling case.

Dung stated that PNJ had no involvement with the 28,000 smuggled diamonds under investigation.

She said PNJ only imports diamonds legally from overseas suppliers, mainly in Thailand and Hong Kong, with full documentation.

However, following the arrest, PNJ's shares came under pressure, ending lower over several consecutive trading sessions.