Vietnamese tech tycoon ‘Shark Binh’ faces 10-15 years in prison over alleged money laundering

The Hanoi People's Procuracy has issued an indictment against nearly 200 defendants in a major fraud case involving illegal foreign exchange and stock trading platforms allegedly operated by 32-year-old TikToker Pho Duc Nam, also known as Mr Pips.

Prosecutors accused Nam and his accomplices of establishing the platforms to fraudulently appropriate about VND1.6 trillion ($62.5 million) from investors.

Binh, board chairman of payment intermediary Ngan Luong Joint Stock Company, has been charged with money laundering under Clause 3, Article 324 of Vietnam's Penal Code.

The offense carries a prison term of 10-15 years.

According to the indictment, Ngan Luong provided payment services to several platforms operated by Nam, including GKFX, DK Trade, ASX, ACX, and Sea Investing.

The company also established Telegram groups to cope with problems arising when investors transferred money to the platforms.

From mid-2020, police repeatedly asked Ngan Luong to verify electronic wallets connected to Nam's trading system.

Despite allegedly knowing that the platforms showed signs of illegal activity, Binh instructed employees not to disclose the wallets actually in use, prosecutors said.

The employees were accused of providing data from another wallet and coordinated with Nam's group to cover the wrongdoings.

Between June 2020 and September 2022, 232 victims transferred nearly VND320 billion ($12.18 million) into wallets linked to the scheme, investigators said.

The funds were routed through bank accounts held in Ngan Luong's name before being transferred to Nam's foreign exchange platforms.

Prosecutors alleged that Binh and the employees involved kept the wallets operational and continued supporting the platforms to earn transaction fees despite being aware that they were under investigation.

The Hanoi People's Procuracy concluded that there was sufficient evidence to prosecute Binh and two Ngan Luong employees for money laundering.

Binh is also being held in custody in a separate case involving the AntEx cryptocurrency project, in which he faces allegations of fraud, accounting violations, and tax evasion.