Police in Phu Tho Province have dismantled a large-scale illegal multi-level investment scheme known as Meta Whale, which operated across multiple provinces and cities in Vietnam, attracting nearly 2,000 participants and involving transactions worth several billion dong (equivalent to hundreds of thousands of USD).

On December 25, Phu Tho police announced that their Cybersecurity and High-Tech Crime Prevention Unit, after months of monitoring online platforms, uncovered the operation and moved to shut it down.

The fraudulent Meta Whale project was heavily promoted online, drawing in large numbers of investors and posing significant threats to both the economy and public order.

On October 11, officers from the cybersecurity division, together with the Phu Tho Investigative Security Department, local prosecutors, and Ha Dong Ward Police (Hanoi), raided a meeting room inside an apartment complex in Ha Dong.

At the time, more than 100 people were attending a Meta Whale promotional event, billed as a "customer onboarding and guidance session." The event was organized by Le Xuan Tham (36), Hoang Thi Thuy (42), and Nguyen Thi Huyen (47) - all Hanoi residents.

Upon questioning, the suspects admitted that since the start of 2025, they had been recruiting and persuading people to invest in the Meta Whale platform through an illegal multi-level marketing model that had no government authorization.

Their earnings came mainly from commissions for recruiting new participants, not from legitimate business activity.

Initial investigations found that the scheme had already attracted nearly 2,000 investors, with a total transaction volume amounting to billions of dong.

On October 29, Phu Tho police officially opened a criminal investigation, transferring the case to the Investigative Security Agency of Phu Tho for further action.

Subsequently, on December 17, the agency issued arrest warrants and criminal charges against Tham, Thuy, and Huyen for "violating regulations on multi-level marketing practices."

The case is still under active investigation, with authorities expanding their probe to uncover more suspects and victims.

Anh Tam