HANOI: Vietnamese police said they had arrested five people and smashed a money-laundering ring that brought US$1.2 billion (S$1.6 billion) of criminal cash into the country from abroad.
Between 2022 and 2024, members of the ring – which included bank employees – forged identification cards and bank seals to establish 187 businesses, opening more than 600 corporate bank accounts.
The accounts were used to transfer and legalise money that had been obtained through fraud or gambling abroad, police said in a statement on Wednesday (Jan 22), adding that total transactions amounted to around US$1.2 billion.
The arrests – including one bank employee – were made in Danang, where police said it was the biggest money laundering case ever exposed in the central coastal city.
Police have seized 122 fake seals and original copies of 40 business registration certificates.
In October, Vietnamese property tycoon Truong My Lan was jailed for life on money laundering charges, although she is appealing the verdict.
The property developer had already been handed the death penalty for fraud totalling US$27 billion in a separate case.
