The five arrested have been accused of forging seals and documents in order to transfer money illegally between 2022-24. Photo courtesy of Nghi Sơn

ĐÀ NẴNG — A money laundering criminal gang has been dismantled by the economic crime police unit under the central city’s public security department, reporting that an estimated VNĐ30 trillion (US$1.2 billion) was transferred illegally through 600 bank accounts in Việt Nam.

The department said the five suspects were in custody, while fake seals and documents on the establishment of 187 shell companies, forged identity cards and business certificates, had been seized.

It said the gang had forged IDs to establish the companies and a series of fake notarisation papers and bank seals, which allowed them to open 600 bank accounts.

The police investigation agency reported that the gang had then helped send $1.2 billion including VNĐ300 billion ($12 million in foreign currency) from suspected criminal sources in foreign countries into Việt Nam.

They used to bank accounts to wash the ‘dirty’ money, moving funds between 2022-24, the police unit reported.

A total 122 counterfeit stamps, 40 original certificates of business registrations, printers, a flash stamp machine, wooden engravers and other equipment for money laundering activities were found.

The case is under investigation.

It is reportedly the biggest money laundering case ever discovered in the central city.

Việt Nam had included revised articles and supplements to fight money laundering in the 2015 penal code, according to the Supreme People’s Court.

'Disguising financial assets so they can be used without detection of the illegal activity' has not traditionally been a major crime in Việt Nam, but criminals have been caught using cash to buy property, cars, jewels and precious assets under the names of other people in the country.

Việt Nam is an official member of the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) body and Vietnamese money laundering was first addressed in the penal code in 1999.

The latest law on Anti-Money Laundering, passed by the National Assembly, came into force in March 2023. 

A new Department of Anti-Money Laundering will be established under the State Bank of Việt Nam (SBV) sometime in 2025. VNS