Investment activities on online international stock exchanges and forex trading floors through MT4 and MT5 applications are currently not recognized or licensed by Vietnamese law. However, many people have been willing to pour billions of dong into participating, only to fall into the situation of "burning through their accounts," leading to certain consequences.

Believing in sweet enticements, many investors deposited billions of dong into forex accounts with the hope of soon taking profits, only to later bitterly realize they were defrauded of the money saved over many years.

Related to the case of Pho Duc Nam (Mr Pips), the police identified many victims who heavily invested billions into forex but subsequently suffered losses, losing all the money they saved over many years.

In many cases, after "burning" all their money on forex, criminal intentions arose to earn money for "recovery." Recently, the People's Procuracy of Hanoi completed the indictment to prosecute defendant Nguyen Thị Hong Ngan (a former technical officer at a university in Hanoi) for the crime of "Fraudulent appropriation of assets."

According to the allegations, in 2022, Ngan began participating in foreign exchange transactions on a forex floor through the Meta Trader 4 (MT4) application. By mid-2022, Ngan began to suffer losses.

To have money to play foreign exchange, the defendant conceived the intention to defraud and appropriate the assets of gullible people. Nguyen Thi Hong Ngan provided false information to N. (born in 1986, residing in Hanoi) about having orders for rock salt and bidding packages to supply materials at Hanoi University of Science and Technology to "lure" her into contributing capital for business.

Trusting Ngan, from September 27, 2022, to May 17, 2024, N. transferred money to Ngan many times totaling more than VND80 billion. However, after receiving the money, the defendant did not use it for business purposes as committed but appropriated it for personal spending and especially used it for foreign exchange transactions on forex floors, leading to losses and the inability to repay.

To win N’s trust, each time N. transferred capital, Ngan transferred back a portion, saying it was principal and interest from investment activities. The total amount the defendant transferred back was more than VND67 billion.

By the end of May 2024, Ngan did not continue payments as agreed. The indictment determined that the defendant appropriated more than VND13 billion from N.

The heavy price 

In another case, in July 2025, the Hanoi People's Court sentenced defendant Nguyen Van Hoanh (born in 1975, residing in Hanoi) to life imprisonment for the crime of "Fraudulent appropriation of assets."

Defendant Hoanh, formerly the General Director of HP 102 Vietnam Joint Stock Company, took advantage of the corporate legal entity to mobilize capital, promising high profit commitments to make many people trust and transfer money to invest in advertising equipment.

From May 2018 to May 2020, investors transferred more than VND409 billion into Hoanh's account. By May 5, 2020, 1,358 individuals  had not been fully repaid, with a total amount of more than VND207 billion.

The indictment determined that the defendant appropriated more than VND207 billion from 1,358 victims. Of that amount, about VND84 billion was used by Hoanh to invest in forex through the account of Ngan Luong Intermediate Payment Joint Stock Company.

Similarly, in September 2022, Nguyen Dinh Hoa (born in 1989, from Nghe An) was sentenced to 13 years in prison for the crime of "Abuse of trust to appropriate assets."

Before committing the crime, Hoa was an employee of VPBOX Vietnam Education Development Joint Stock Company, in charge of business in the old Dong Anh district, Hanoi; he was assigned the task of collecting tuition fees and textbook money from 12 elementary schools to submit to the company.

In late 2020 – early 2021, Hoa directly collected more than VND3.7 billion in tuition and textbook money. However, instead of submitting it to the company, the defendant used this money for illegal foreign exchange investment online and suffered losses, losing the ability to repay.

By March 2021, the company issued a disciplinary decision, firing Hoa, and sent a denunciation to the police.

In Vietnam, only the Vietnam Stock Exchange and its subsidiaries, the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) and the HCMC Stock Exchange (HOSE), are permitted to organize the securities trading market. Therefore, apart from the Vietnam Stock Exchange and its subsidiaries, no organization or individual is allowed to trade or list on the stock market.

T. Nhung