Wife of Vietnam's biggest forex scam mastermind arrested in Thailand

According to Major General Nguyen Thanh Tung, Director of Hanoi Police, Theu, who is currently caring for a young child, cannot be extradited immediately. "We made the arrest in time because Theu was preparing to flee to Turkey. We will gather more information once she is brought back to Vietnam," said Tung at a press briefing on Monday.

Authorities also announced the arrest of Nguyen Thi Thuy, 43, who served as an accountant for Pho Duc Nam, a social media influencer more commonly known as TikToker "Mr. Pips."

Nam, 31, and more than 30 accomplices were detained between Oct. 25 and Dec. 10 last year. They are under investigation for crimes including fraudulent appropriation of assets and money laundering.

Hanoi police have described the case as "the biggest foreign currency and stock fraud in Vietnam ever."

Le Khac Ngo in a photo provided by police.

According to investigators, in 2021, Nam and Ngo, who remains at large, teamed up with a Turkish national to run a large-scale fraudulent trading scheme. They established a company with 44 offices in Ho Chi Minh City and many others in Hanoi and across the country, offering unlicensed stock brokerage and financial services through a workforce of 1,000 employees, none of whom held proper licenses.

The group allegedly defrauded over 2,660 victims by operating a fake stock trading platform. The platform did not facilitate real trades but was instead used to funnel investors' money into the suspects' accounts.

Following Nam's instructions, employees lured customers by encouraging them to make small, profitable trades. Once trust was built, victims were persuaded to invest larger sums, eventually losing significant amounts of money.

Victims were then directed to a second platform, said to help them recover their losses, only to fall victim to further deception.

Police have seized VND5.3 trillion (US$208 million) in assets connected to the case.

Gold bars seized from the ring. Photo by police

Nam reportedly used his financial expertise, technological knowledge, and English skills to collaborate with foreign partners and operate the scam. He also leveraged social media to showcase an extravagant lifestyle, posting images of luxury villas and high-end cars to lure in investors.

"When people see my beautiful houses and luxurious cars they are persuaded to make investments," he told police last year.

Major General Tung expressed concern that many of those working for the ring were students and young adults who were aware of the fraudulent nature of Mr. Pips' platforms but failed to report it.

"In the coming days, the police will classify the cases and take severe action against these individuals," he said.

So far, police have identified 571 victims and are urging more to come forward.

"Many people are misunderstanding, thinking that they lost money in stock investments and so they're not coming forward. However, we ask the victims to come in for questioning because we have seized a lot of money, and it will eventually be returned," Tung said.

Authorities have issued an international arrest warrant for the Turkish suspect believed to be the ringleader of the operation. Hanoi Police also continue to call on Ngo to surrender.