Vu Thi Thuy, chairwoman of Hanoi property developer Nhat Nam, reportedly swindled VND5 trillion (US$190 million) by advertising non-existent housing projects and with a Ponzi scheme, according to prosecutors.
Thuy, 42, who has been charged with fraudulent appropriation of assets and money laundering, established Nhat Nam in 2019 and enticed buyers with promises of high returns of “168% or 192% … within two years [depending on scheme],” according to their recent indictment.
Within the following two years she opened four more companies and 32 offices nationwide, and collected VND9.1 trillion from more than 43,000 investors.
Thuy used 45% of the money to pay earlier investors and spent VND5 trillion on different purposes.
A small portion, VND204 billion, was used to buy land lots in Hanoi and other places, mostly agriculture land not approved for commercial residential projects.
But she advertised them as major urban projects to attract further investment.
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Vu Thi Thuy, chairwoman of Nhat Nam. Photo courtesy of the company |
Investigators found that Nhat Nam spent less on buying land than on operating costs such as fuel, advertising and office rents.
A large portion, VND2.3 trillion, went toward sales commissions and employee bonuses, and Thuy used VND1.47 trillion for personal expenses.
She is also charged with money laundering after asking her driver and husband to buy properties and shares of some companies in their names using the money she swindled.
But they are not charged with money laundering since they did not know the source of the money, prosecutors said.
Ten others, all executives of Nhat Nam, have also been charged with fraudulent appropriation of assets.
