Vương Lê Vĩnh Nhân, identified by investigators as the figure behind the ONUS crypto platform. — Photo tienphong.vn

HÀ NỘI — Police say they are dismantling a vast cryptocurrency operation accused of drawing in billions of dollars from investors through misleading claims and price manipulation, in what could be one of Việt Nam’s largest digital asset cases to date.

Investigators have charged Vương Lê Vĩnh Nhân, also known as Eric Vuong, and eight others with fraud and money laundering, a Ministry of Public Security representative said at a briefing on Friday.

The group is alleged to have run the ONUS crypto platform, which attracted millions of users and channelled huge sums of money through its ecosystem. 

Police say the operation began in 2018 with the creation of a digital token called VNDC and a trading app known as VNDC Wallet, later rebranded as ONUS in 2021.

From early on, the project was marketed with claims that helped build trust – but which investigators now say were not true. Among them was a key assurance that VNDC was fully backed, one-to-one, by deposits held at major banks in Việt Nam.

In reality, police say, no such reserves existed.

Other announcements painted a picture of a growing, real-world ecosystem. Promotional materials described plans for a nationwide chain of SnackHouse bread shops where VNDC vouchers could be used to redeem bread across the network. Investigators say those plans never came to fruition.

A similar claim surrounded an e-commerce platform dubbed the 'VNDC Supermarket', presented as a marketplace for users of the token. Police say that the platform also did not exist.

Behind the scenes, the project was heavily promoted. Influencers in the tech space were brought in, and a network of agents was recruited to draw in new users, helping the platform expand rapidly.

Authorities also say the structure of the business itself was misleading. Publicly, the token and exchange were said to be issued by companies based in Singapore. In fact, investigators say those entities were set up and controlled by the same people running the scheme.

As the number of users grew, so did the range of tokens on offer. Police allege that the group created additional cryptocurrencies and used automated tools to simulate trading activity, placing artificial buy and sell orders to push prices up or down.

When investors began to lose money, the price manipulation was halted, sending prices sharply lower. New tokens would then be launched, and the cycle repeated.

By the time authorities moved in, ONUS had expanded into a platform listing nearly 600 digital assets and hosting around 5.5 million accounts, with transaction flows running into billions of dollars.

To sustain the operation, investigators say, the group set up a network of 52 companies in Việt Nam and overseas, along with an investment fund. While these appeared to operate independently, police say they were effectively controlled by a single management structure, helping to obscure the movement of funds.

The investigation is ongoing, with officials working to trace the money, identify further suspects and recover assets. — VNS