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Nguyen Thanh Hai, 55, and 40 others were arrested for "extortion of property"; "fraudulent appropriation of property"; "human trafficking"; "oganizing or brokering illegal exit from, entry into, or stay in Vietnam"; and "abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, the legitimate rights and interests of organizations, and individuals."
Police arrest Nguyen Thanh Hai and dozens of others for staging fake rescue of scam victims in Cambodia. Video by police
According to investigators, the sophisticated transnational criminal network capitalized on the public emotion evoked by rescuing Vietnamese who had been tricked and sold to work as forced laborers for fraud rings in Cambodia.
Hai was the ringleader who built an online persona as "street knight, " they said.
On social media accounts with a large number of followers, he regularly posted videos and articles claiming the rescues were "free of charge" and that no money was accepted, thereby building credibility.
The group even arranged filming crews and staged interviews with fake victims.
But the police determined that the gang’s activities were the opposite of what it advertised, and when families of the actual victims contacted it for help, Hai demanded money before any "rescue" would take place.
After striking a deal with families, Hai coordinated with contacts in Cambodia to remove victims from scam compounds, inflating ransom amounts and pocketing the difference.
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From left: Le Van Thanh, Huynh Cao Cuong, and Nguyen Thanh Hai at a police station in HCMC. Photo by police |
Investigators alleged that, since 2023, the gang had extorted 120 victims, collecting more than VND16.7 billion in total. Hai allegedly pocketed over VND2.2 billion personally.
The gang also egregiously violated laws while bringing victims back to Vietnam by crossing the border through unofficial trails without completing exit or entry procedures and without valid documents.
For the investigation, the city police’s Criminal Investigation Division (PC02) coordinated with the central Criminal Investigation Department (C02) and Cambodian authorities to bust other criminal gangs.
These included ones led by Le Van Thanh, which specialized in luring workers to Cambodia to work for scam organizations, and by Huynh Cao Cuong, another self-proclaimed "street knight."
Like Hai, Cuong set up TikTok and Facebook channels to post staged videos of dramatic "rescues."
When victims’ families contacted him, Cuong allegedly quoted ransom prices hundreds of millions of dong higher than the actual amounts to skim the difference.
For example, if Cambodian gangs demanded VND185–240 million, Cuong would quote VND 280–400 million.
His group reportedly carried out 30 such "rescues."
The operation to bust these gangs was launched by PC02 in October as part of efforts to combat high-tech online fraud.
The HCMC police have warned the public to remain vigilant against offers of "light work with high pay" overseas, and exercise caution when seeking assistance from informal groups on social media.
