21 members of transnational money laundering ring receive jail terms

Among them, 14 were charged with "fraudulent appropriation of property". They received sentences ranging from 12-18 years.

Mac Binh Hung, 33, is identified as the head of the crime group, received the highest sentence of 18 years.

The remaining seven convicted of "money laundering" were sentenced to imprisonment of between six and 11 years.

Between Sept. 27 and Nov. 9, 2022, police arrested Hung and many others from the 777pay criminal group belonging to Jinbian Company.

According to the police, Jinbian is a criminal organization specializing in laundering money for gambling apps and scam suspects by acting as an intermediary payment gateway and charging a fee of 1-3% on transaction amounts. It is headquartered in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The company provided money laundering services to clients from China, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam. The 777pay division specifically handled money laundering in the Vietnamese market, said the police.

777pay, managed by Chinese man Tan Zhi Bao (also known as Gu Lang), 38, specialized in laundering money by setting up intermediary payment gateways for transferring and receiving funds, converting illegally obtained money into "clean" money, untraceable in origin.

The case came to light following a report from a Hanoi woman who was deceived out of VND20 billion (US$786,000).

In August 2022, the victim, named Linh, a 39-year-old resident of Cau Giay District, applied for a job position as a data entry accountant at "Anpha Accounting Company." She saw the recruitment post online and sent a message to the post's author.

She was instructed to connect with a Telegram account named Nien.

According to the verdict, Nien, who claimed to be a recruitment employee of a well-known pharmacy chain, showed Linh the company's employee card and directed her to a link to register an account using her phone number and an ID to perform tasks.

Subsequently, Linh received guidance from another Telegram account named Yen, who instructed her to place orders and earn commissions. Initially, Linh had to deposit money into an account via the provided link.

After making two successful transfers and withdrawals earning profits, Linh was added to a group assigned higher-level tasks, involving a transfer of VND30 million, which she could not withdraw, and was asked to continue transferring more money.

From August 25-30, 2022, Linh made 24 transfers to 15 bank accounts provided by the "employees," totaling VND20 billion.

The woman reported the case to the Hanoi police after recognizing that she had been deceived.

The police determined that the bank accounts receiving Linh's money were managed by the 777pay group.

In Linh's scam case, the VND20 billion, after being transferred into intermediary bank accounts of the 777pay ring, was circulated, split, and forwarded to 12 bank accounts.

In this flow of money, VND14 billion was sent to a group led by Dinh Van Hung, 27, for laundering through buying and selling cryptocurrency USDT.