On the morning of December 28, Lai Chau Provincial Police held a press conference to announce the results of Project 0924L, dismantling a group of fraudsters who appropriated assets on the internet. This is an unprecedented case in Lai Chau province when the task force directly fought crime in Cambodia.

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Colonel Pham Hai Dang chaired the press conference. Photo: Duc Hoang

Clues from the criminal complaint

According to documents provided by Lai Chau Provincial Police at the press conference, the case originated from a criminal complaint filed by Nguyen Van Phuong (50 years old, residing in Tan Uyen district) about being scammed by a group of people, who appropriated more than 200 million VND when making transactions via social networks.

Specifically, on June 3, Mr. Phuong went online and saw the account "Nam Mien Trung 666" introducing the sale of customs-cleared cars, so he clicked to view. A few minutes later, the above account texted and offered to support Mr. Phuong with car buying services. Using sophisticated tricks, the group of subjects defrauded and appropriated Mr. Phuong's assets for a total of more than 200 million VND through the trick of fraudulently selling a 7-seat car.

After discovering signs of fraud, Mr. Phuong reported to Tan Uyen District Police. After hearing the report on the incident, the Lai Chau Provincial Police Department determined that this was an organized crime and needed to focus forces to fight and dismantle it.

During the verification process, the investigation agency determined that the subject directly committing the act of fraud and appropriating the victim's property was Duong Van Thanh (38 years old, from Thai Nguyen, operating in Cambodia). Thanh was later arrested by Lai Chau Provincial Police while entering Vietnam through Moc Bai Border Gate ( Tay Ninh Province).

At the investigation agency, Thanh confessed that he had left for Cambodia in April 2024 to work in Svay Rieng province. Here, Thanh was assigned as the team leader who directly managed a number of other subjects to commit fraud and appropriate property via cyberspace through (the form of) selling cheap customs clearance cars.

In the case of Nguyen Van Phuong's fraud of more than 200 million VND, Thanh stated that there were 5 people involved in the fraud, playing different roles. After appropriating the above amount of money, the group used many different tricks to erase the traces of the money.

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Colonel Pham Hai Dang, Deputy Director of Lai Chau Police (far left) directed the investigation in the Kingdom of Cambodia. Photo: Doan Duong

In the process of tracing the related subjects, the preliminary investigation team determined that the above criminal group was operating in Cambodia (?) and reported the investigation results to the Ministry of Public Security .

Under the direction of the Ministry of Public Security and the support of the professional departments, from September 17 to October 20, 2024, the investigation force continued to arrest 5 more subjects who were Thanh's accomplices. During the process of taking statements from the subjects, the Investigation Committee determined that, in addition to the arrested defendants, there was still a group of people hiding in a room in the Venus area, Bavet city to commit fraud.

Raid in the Kingdom of Cambodia

To thoroughly eradicate the criminal gang in Bavet city, the Lai Chau Provincial Police Department reported to the competent authority to propose establishing a working group of 11 comrades led by Colonel Pham Hai Dang, Deputy Director of the Provincial Police Department, with the participation of officers from the Criminal Police Department (Ministry of Public Security) to go to the Kingdom of Cambodia to arrest the subjects.

With the enthusiastic support of local authorities, the Task Force planned to raid the criminal gang at a specific location.

As a result, on the morning of December 11, with the coordination and support of the Representative Office of the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam in Cambodia; the Criminal Police Department - Ministry of Interior of Cambodia and related units, the Task Force arrested 12 subjects in a room in the Venus 2 special zone.

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Cambodian authorities handed over the suspects to Lai Chau Police. Photo: Doan Duong

On December 25, the above subjects were handed over to Lai Chau Provincial Police for reception.

Up to now, the Lai Chau Provincial Police Department has arrested 18 subjects and seized many related documents. Initially, the investigation agency determined that the subjects had appropriated nearly 4 billion VND from 52/200 victims in 29 different provinces and cities across the country.

The above case is being further investigated and handled by Lai Chau Provincial Police according to regulations.

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