Police raid debt collecting firm in HCMC

The raid occurred on Feb. 14 when the Ministry of Public Security, in collaboration with Tien Giang and HCMC police, busted into the office on Le Van Huan Road, Tan Binh District.

They found nearly 130 people who seemed to be working as debt collectors.

The group allegedly has been taking advantage of its title as a law firm to partner with banks and financial companies to "handle bad debts."

Its employees used "mafia-style" methods to threaten debtors, including repeatedly calling and texting. They also placed cooking gas tanks or coffins in front of debtors’ homes and threatened them saying their companies or family would be blown up if they didn’t pay, the police said.

Police speak with Phap Viet Law employees inside the company's office in Tan Binh District on February 14, 2023. Photo courtesy of police

The group had collected nearly VND1 trillion in debt. The misconduct was discovered when some victims in Tien Giang reported it to the police.

In December last year HCMC police raided a group that also took advantage of the name Power Law Firm to operate as debt collectors.

The company had three lawyers and many unauthorized debt collectors. It bought bad debt from financial companies, banks and online loan providers, and then sent collectors to threaten debtors until they paid their debts.

They also used the victims’ images and put them on social media with false information to defame them. The number of victims is estimated to be around 300.