Hanoi (VNA) – The Hanoi People’s Court is scheduled to open on October 26 the first-instance trial of 188 defendants in a case involving Pho Duc Nam, alias Mr Pips, and his accomplices, who are charged with “swindling to appropriate property”, “money laundering”, “harbouring or trading in property acquired through crime” and “tax evasion”.
The alleged offences occurred in Hanoi and several other provinces and cities nationwide.
Given the large number of participants in the proceedings, including 188 defendants, more than 200 defence lawyers and hundreds of related parties and witnesses, the court has decided to hold the trial in a hybrid format, combining in-person and online proceedings.
The main hearing venue will be the court’s large courtroom, accommodating the trial panel, representatives of the People’s Procuracy, more than 50 defendants and over 200 defence lawyers.
The second venue will be the auditorium of the Hanoi People’s Court, where victims and other parties with related rights and obligations will attend the proceedings. The third will be the auditorium of Detention Centre No. 1 under the Hanoi Police, where most of the defendants currently in custody will participate in the trial.
Of the 188 defendants, 25 are out on bail while 163 are in detention.
Three defendants, namely Pho Duc Nam (Mr Pips), born in 1994 and residing in Tam Thang ward, Ho Chi Minh City; Le Khac Ngo (Mr Hunter), born in 1990 and residing in Phu Dien ward, Hanoi; and Nguyen Thanh Phong, born in 1990 and residing in Ben Cau commune, Tay Ninh province, have been indicted by the Hanoi People’s Procuracy on the charges of swindling to appropriate property and money laundering under Articles 174 and 324 of the Penal Code.
Nguyen Thi Thuy, born in 1982 and residing in Tam Thang ward, Ho Chi Minh City, has been charged with money laundering and tax evasion under Article 200 of the Penal Code.
Defendants Nguyen Hoa Binh, born in 1981 and residing in Ha Dong ward, Hanoi, and Pho Duc Thang, father of Pho Duc Nam and born in 1968, together with four others, Nguyen Thanh Tam, Tran Thi Thanh Tam, Nguyen Thi Nam and Le Thi Lieu, have all been charged with money laundering.
Pho Duc Tuan, a cousin of Pho Duc Nam and born in 1985, has been accused of harbouring property acquired through crime under Article 323 of the Penal Code.
The remaining 177 defendants face the charge of swindling to appropriate property.
According to the indictment, in 2017, Nam became acquainted with Isik Uran, a Turkish national born in 1984. The pair allegedly agreed that Uran would create 36 websites integrated with MT4 and MT5 apps, which were used for forex and global equities trading. These sites used English names to imitate legitimate international trading venues. Uran passed the details to Nam, who then instructed operatives to lure clients into opening accounts and depositing funds for supposed stock investments.
The platforms were configured without any linkage to actual global markets, effectively enabling investors to wager against the platform administrators, meaning any losses were pocketed by the operators.
Nam instructed subordinates to set up shell companies for recruitment purposes, signing server leasing contracts, and placing sales and customer support staff for the illicit operation.
The People’s Procuracy identified Nam as the mastermind and ringleader of the fraudulent appropriation scheme, holding him responsible for all 919 cases involving nearly 1.56 trillion VND (60.28 million USD) in misappropriated assets.
To conceal the criminal origins of the proceeds and invest and accumulate assets, Nam also used more than 560 billion VND in illicit funds to purchase real estate, gold, US dollars and other assets./.
188 defendants prosecuted in “Mr Pips” fraud case
The accusations include fraud, money laundering, dealing with criminally obtained assets, and tax evasion across multiple locations nationwide.
