Hanoi (VNA) – The investigation police agency under the Hanoi Department of Public Security has launched criminal proceedings against five suspects in an alleged fraud case involving the FTXF cryptocurrency, who are accused of defrauding investors of tens of billions of Vietnamese dong.
According to the Hanoi police, the investigation targets a group led by Tran Nam Chung, born 1986, residing in Ha Dong ward, Hanoi. The investigation police agency has officially charged the five individuals with “fraudulent appropriation of property” under Article 174 of the Penal Code.
Investigators found that since 2021, the group had exploited their knowledge of digital currency and crypto assets to raise funds from the public by promoting investment in the FTXF token.
Chung allegedly hired Bui Dinh Ngoc to develop smart contract code to issue the FTXF token as a fundraising tool. The group also created online platforms, including a real estate trading website and a reverse auction platform, with the use of bots to manipulate transactions.
To build investors’ confidence, the suspects promoted FTXF as a cryptocurrency developed by a technical team in the UK and claimed it had broad presence across digital platforms such as the WOWIDEX decentralised exchange, the WETAON enterprise social network, the PAYGATE payment gateway, and the ONSTORA reverse-auction e-commerce platform.
The group also organised seminars and financial training sessions to promote the project, aiming to convince investors of its growth potential and encourage them to purchase and hold it for the long term. Once investors had purchased FTXF, the suspects allegedly conducted large-scale sell-offs, causing the token to collapse in value and lose liquidity, thereby appropriating investors’ funds. The total amount mobilised by the group reached tens of billions of dong (10 billion VND = 380,417 USD).
Police warned that such schemes often exploit online communities to lure individuals into investing in cryptocurrencies and digital assets for illegal capital mobilisation and fraud, negatively impacting the crypto market and legitimate investors. They urged organisations and individuals to thoroughly research digital assets before investing to avoid falling victim to such scams./.
