Police in Phú Thọ inspect evidence seized from properties linked to the four suspects. — Photo cand.vn

PHÚ THỌ — Police in the northern province of Phú Thọ said on Thursday they have charged four people, including a Chinese national, over a suspected plot to relocate an online scam operation from Cambodia to Việt Nam.

The case began when officers identified a group with alleged ties to foreign-run online fraud rings operating in Cambodia that investigators said were preparing to shift their operations into Việt Nam amid intensified crackdown by the neighbouring country's authorities.

The ringleader of the plot was identified as Zhao Wei Zhong, 37, a Chinese national who police said entered Việt Nam on instructions from an associate based overseas.

According to investigators, his assignment was to line up housing and other logistics ahead of an expected influx of employees from fraudulent companies based in Cambodia.

Police said Zhao had previously worked at Chinese-run scam operations in Cambodia, where he became acquainted with two Vietnamese nationals – Trần Thị Thu Hường, 24, and Phạm Đình Nam, 27 – both residents of the northern province of Bắc Ninh.

Zhao Wei Zhong, one of the suspects behind the alleged plot. — Photo cand.vn

After arriving in Việt Nam, Zhao recruited the pair to help with translation, driving and scouting locations to house the foreign workers once they crossed into the country, police said.

Investigators also identified 43-year-old Hà Nội resident Nguyễn Thành Long as having helped arrange logistics in support of the plan.

Police said they detected and dismantled the operation before the group could complete the transfer of personnel from Cambodia, preventing the scam centre from ever becoming operational on Vietnamese soil.

On June 17, following an evidence-gathering process, police in Phú Thọ filed charges against Zhao, Hường and Long for organising the illegal stay of foreigners in Việt Nam, and ordered all three held in pretrial detention.

Nam was charged with the same offence, but was placed under a movement restriction order, a less severe measure that bars him from leaving his place of residence pending further proceedings, rather than being in custody.

At properties linked to the suspects, police also seized 73 computers, 134 mobile phones, 34 USB drives, 20 Wi-Fi routers and other gear that was allegedly intended for the scam call centre. — VNS