The People’s Supreme Procuracy transferred the Liên Kết Việt multi-level marketing scam case to the Hà Nội People’s Court on Monday.– Photo zing.vn

HÀ NỘI – The People’s Supreme Procuracy transferred the Liên Kết Việt multi-level marketing scam case to the Hà Nội People’s Court on Monday.

According to the case dossier, the Procuracy upheld its January indictments of seven defendants: board chairman Lê Xuân Giang, general director Lê Văn Tú, deputy general director Nguyễn Thị Thủy, business team members Trịnh Xuân Sáng, Lê Thành Sơn, Nguyễn Xuân Trường and Vũ Thị Hồng Dung.

The indictment says Liên Kết Việt was started by Lê Xuân Giang, who organised events to gain the trust of potential clients and investors and build a reputation.

He invited military veterans and officers to his events and convinced them to issue a false certification for his company that stated the company was managed by the Ministry of National Defense. Giang also claimed he was a Colonel, which appeared to support claims that his products were property of the defense ministry. His products included dietary supplements, physical therapy equipment and ozone deodorising devices.

Almost 67,000 people lost a combined VNĐ 2 trillion (US$ 88.4 million) to the scam.

Between March 2014 and November 2015, Liên Kết Việt opened 35 offices across 27 cities in Việt Nam. Client agreements stated that members would buy company products, and then sell them to their own customers. They were promised a 65 per cent commission on every product sold, much higher than the 40 per cent allowed by the Central Government.

Investigators received statements from more than 9,000 victims.

In February 2016, Giang was arrested for alleged fraud and property appropriation under his pyramid scheme. Other employees were arrested on the same charges. –VNS