A Chinese national Xue Wen, suspected to be part of a criminal ring, was arrested in Ha Noi and sent to HCM City, awaiting for his conviction yesterday.

Xue Wen at the police station.

Xue Wen, 35, was found to have links with a gang of criminals who masqueraded as policemen to swindle people of money through phone scams, the police said.

During his interrogation, Xue Wen said he was a member of the gang that was discovered to be allegedly cheating many people of billions of dong last month.

Xue Wen was responsible for withdrawing money at ATMs from bank accounts provided by other gang members, such as 34-year-old Taiwanese Liu Wei Chun, and 33-year-old Vietnamese Duong Thi Nguyet, a resident of the southern Bac Lieu Province and Chun's wife.

During a search of Wen's house, the police found more than 40 ATM cards and many other items related to the crimes.

Last month, the police arrested Taiwanese Liu Wei Chun, the gang leader, and his four Vietnamese accomplices -- Duong Thi Nguyet, Nguyen Van Mong, Le Nguyen Kieu Xuan and Huynh Hoang Minh – who are all residents of Bac Lieu Province.

According to the police, Nguyet married Chun in 2012 and moved to Taiwan. Two years later, the couple returned to Viet Nam and joined the criminal ring.

The swindlers used identity cards of their own and others to open 64 bank accounts in different banks to conduct their criminal acts.

Lieutenant-Colonel Nguyen Thanh Nhan of HCM City's Police said, "The criminals' tricks were very sophisticated. They had many accomplices who withdrew money from ATMs that were located far from the residential places of the victims. So, the process of tracing and arresting the criminals were very difficult."

The HCM City Police has been carrying out further investigations. The police even set up a hotline to help the victims report the crimes quickly.

VNS