More than 4,000 Vietnamese fall victim to Alibaba fraudulent property sales

Ngo Hung Duyet, 66, traveled all the way from Da Nang to Ho Chi Minh City on Monday to attend a hearing concerning Alibaba’s alleged fraudulent sale of 58 projects, in which he bought three land lots.

Duyet in 2018 paid VND578 million ($24,434) to buy two lots and put down a deposit for a third in two Alibaba projects in Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province.

At that time, Duyet was planning to move to the south to live with his children when he saw a lot of advertising about the Alibaba land lots.

He contacted the company and its salespeople showed him some land lots in Ba Ria – Vung Tau and convinced him to sign a contract that guaranteed that title deeds would be issued within one year after purchase.

As the due date for the title went by, Duyet called the company to ask about the title deeds, only to be persuaded to put down another VND20 million for a deposit on a third land lot.

A few days later, company chairman Nguyen Thai Luyen was arrested for alleged fraud.

"Ever since investing in these projects, my family has fallen into a mental and finance crisis," said Duyet. "My wife and I had to use all of our income and government support to pay bank loan interest. We also had to borrow from friends and family."

At the court hearing he requested a VND578 million refund for his investment.

Duyet was among 300 victims who showed up at the Monday hearing, which is part of a series of sessions that are set to last until January for the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court to listen to over 4,000 people who have fallen victim to Alibaba.

Victims show up at a court hearing in Ho Chi Minh City on December 12, 2022 concerning the alleged fraudulent land sale of local property developer Alibaba. Photo by VnExpress/Dinh Van

The HCMC-based company was established in 2016 by Luyen, who also formed 22 subsidiaries to invest in 58 projects in the provinces of Dong Nai, Ba Ria – Vung Tau and Binh Thuan.

Investigators discovered that these projects were all illegally mapped out on agricultural land and falsely advertised to convince customers that they really existed.

Luyen ordered his employees to illegally collect nearly VND2.4 trillion from 4,560 customers, of which investigators were able to contact 4,065 who had invested VND2.1 trillion.

Nguyen Thai Luyen, Alibaba chairman, is seen at a court hearing in Ho Chi Minh City on December 12, 2022. Photo by VnExpress/Dinh Van

One of the investors was Le Thi Nguyet, 35, who bought a 105-square-meter land lot from the company in 2018 in Dong Nai at a price tag of VND200 million.

Salespeople promised Nguyet that the title deed would be given to her after 18 months, and that otherwise the company would compensate her with 150% of what she paid for the land. They also promised a monthly interest rate of 15% for her investment.

Nguyet trusted their words and encouraged friends and family to buy another 19 lots from the company.

"Alibaba sold their land lots very differently from other property developers," she said. "They offered high profits with low prices. I got VND30 million in profit only six months after investing VND200 million, which is why I bought more."

The land lots were in ideal locations near the planned Long Thanh International Airport, but she did not know that they did not belong to Alibaba.

"I was not familiar with the law so I did not know that the company made up these projects," she added. "The only thing I want now is to get a refund and pay my debts."

Vu Thi Hoa, from Thai Binh Province, paid over VND1 billion for nine land lots from Alibaba, but she also did not received any title deeds.

"I have lost everything," she said. "Now I am living in a rented house and hawk on the street to make money to pay for my children’s tuition."