Aigars Plivës, 39, a Latvian national, along with Nguyen Thi Tuyet Suong, 56, the director of Digital Credit Company, Truong Tuan Tai, 33, the director of Fincap Vietnam Company, and 10 other accomplices employed by the companies, stood trial on Friday on charges of usury in civil transactions at the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court.
The hearing is expected to conclude on Tuesday.
According to the indictment, Plivës worked for Sun Finance Group, headquartered in Latvia. In 2018, under Sun Finance's direction, he arrived in Vietnam to establish and oversee loan shark activities through three companies: Sofi Solutions, Digital Credit, and Fincap Vietnam.
All three companies were registered in Ho Chi Minh City with 100% foreign capital. Their lending activities were managed through two websites: tamo.vn and findo.vn.
Plivës had full operational control over the companies, directly supervising their employees. The companies shared a unified human resources department, including an advertising team responsible for promoting the two lending websites.
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Latvian Aigars Plivčs (R) at a police station in HCMC, June 17, 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Nhat Vy |
Loan process
Borrowers could access loans by visiting the websites, submitting personal details (such as phone number, email, ID photos, income information, loan amount, and term), and agreeing to terms calculated by the automated system. No direct contact with employees was required.
The appraisal team verified the information before approving loans, which were initially disbursed automatically to borrowers' bank accounts.
By February 2019, Digital Credit Company partnered with Bao Kim Company and Online Mobile Services Joint Stock Company (Momo) to handle disbursements directly to borrowers' accounts or Momo wallets.
The system generated three electronic contracts including loan, mortgage, and consulting services but no actual transactions or agreements were made between the parties. Borrowers unable to repay on time could extend their debt for up to 30 days by paying an additional fee, calculated with interest rates similar to those on the original loan.
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Defendants stand trial at a court in HCMC, December 13 2024. Photo by VnExpress/Bich Ha |
All customer data was stored on the websites' systems, with security measures in place to prevent employees from downloading or copying the information.
In June 2022, a victim named Hung borrowed VND1 million from Digital Credit Company. Due to financial hardship, he was unable to repay the debt. Ten months later, he received a notice stating that his debt had ballooned to VND21 million. After persistent harassment from debt collectors, Hung reported the case to the police.
An investigation revealed that the loan shark operation was disguised as a "pawn service."
The investigation determined that, since April 2019, the three companies had issued over 2 million loans, amounting to more than VND6 trillion. Interest rates ranged from 401.5% to as high as 1,379.7% annually.
Police identified 229 borrowers and took statements from 28 victims.
Plivës admitted to operating the scheme from June 2020 to April 2023, earning a monthly salary of VND120 million and illegal profits of VND4.2 billion.
The remaining defendants reportedly gained between VND220 million and VND4 billion in illicit profits.