The police in Vietnam have accused a group that includes two Nigerian nationals (names not mentioned) and five additional suspects of orchestrating a sophisticated international fraud worth roughly $160m (approximately VND4.15tn) through the creation of over 300 fictitious businesses.
According to a Sunday report by VnExpress News, which referenced official police documentation, the alleged scheme was primarily carried out with assistance from a Vietnamese-led network.
A summary submitted by Ho Chi Minh City police to prosecutors last Friday indicated that the financial channels used by the accused were predominantly linked to Nigerian-based bank accounts.
The report further revealed that the investigators claimed the accused individuals gained unauthorised access to business email systems during active contract discussions.
“They created fake email accounts nearly identical to legitimate ones, differing by a single character, to deceive clients into changing transaction account details.
“In Vietnam, Minh’s group established nearly 300 shell companies with foreign-sounding names, closely resembling those of their victims’ partners,” the report read.
The report quoted police officials alleging that the shell companies set up dual-currency accounts—one for foreign currencies and another for Vietnamese dong—to accept incoming payments.
“The similarity in company names and email addresses led numerous foreign partners to mistakenly transfer funds to the accounts provided by the criminals, resulting in misappropriation,” the report added.
The police further detailed one specific case involving a Ukrainian firm, December One Rnd Ltd, which had an ongoing business relationship with South Korea’s Sungsan Electronics & Communications via the verified address [email protected].
“On Dec. 6, 2023, the Ukrainian company received emails from [email protected] (‘O’ capitalised) and [email protected] (with an extra ‘s’), instructing them to change the receiving bank account, accompanied by altered contracts, invoices, and a scanned confirmation from Vietnam’s state-owned lender Vietinbank.
“On March 8, 2024, December One Rnd Ltd transferred US$314,850 to the provided account and informed their partner of the payment.
“The partner never received the funds, as the account and email addresses were fraudulent,” the report added.
The report added that all attempts by the Ukrainian Embassy to halt the fraudulent transaction by contacting Vietinbank on March 21, 2024, were unsuccessful, as the funds had already been withdrawn from the account.
The funds received were reportedly moved by Vietnamese associates acting as company officials.
The police disclosed that the suspects converted the money into local currency, redistributed it through different bank accounts, and extracted the cash to hand over to the fraud ring.
So far, over 20 individuals are said to have been identified as directly involved in the international fraud.
This case adds to the rising number of global fraud incidents linked to Nigerians.
In a separate incident last year, a Nigerian national, Yomi Olayeye, was arrested in the United States and charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, and identity theft in connection with a $10m scheme involving pandemic unemployment assistance.
