High-tech firm executive arrested for involvement in $822 mln loan sharking ring

Police in the central province of Quang Nam on Wednesday detained Nguyen Quang Tu, deputy general director and CEO of HTP Group, the operator of e-wallet OmiPay, for his involvement in a VND20 trillion ($822.5 million) loan sharking ring.

Along with Tu, 37, the police also launched legal proceedings against and arrested Do Minh Tri, 28, head of the business team at the company. Both are charged with “committing usury in civil transactions.”

In July 2023, Quang Nam police coordinated with relevant units of the Ministry of Public Security and police from localities across the country to bust an online loan sharking ring which is considered the largest uncovered in Vietnam to date.

The police have initiated legal proceedings against more than 50 foreign and Vietnamese people for "committing usury in civil transactions", "property confiscation", and "illegal cross-border transportation of goods and currencies."

This ring offered loans to more than one million people nationwide through mobile phone applications, with interest rates of up to 2,300% per year.

With high-interest loans amounting to VND20 trillion ($822.5 million), the company earned illegal profits of VND8 trillion ($329.2 million), VND5 trillion of which was illegally transferred out of Vietnam.