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Two Individuals Sentenced to Life in Vietnam for Involvement in $1.5 Million Cryptocurrency Theft: Report
The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court has determined that Vietnamese citizens Ho Ngoc Tai and Tran Ngoc Hoang will serve life sentences for the abduction of an individual and the theft of $1.5 million in bitcoin from him.
Fourteen additional individuals involved in the crime received prison terms ranging from 9 to 19 years.
No Mercy
The 34-year-old Tai and the 40-year-old Hoang were sentenced to life imprisonment for executing a complex kidnapping and subsequently stealing $1.5 million in BTC from the victim.
Under local legislation, digital currencies are prohibited in Vietnam, which means that individuals or businesses cannot accept them as a form of currency or payment. Nevertheless, the defendants successfully converted the stolen bitcoin into VND18.8 billion (approximately $800,000). The court mandated that the perpetrators compensate the victim with this amount.
Tai and Hoang were not acting alone; they were aided by 14 other accomplices, all of whom will also face imprisonment. However, none will receive life sentences, with their terms ranging from 9 to 19 years.
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Notably, two of the accomplices – Nguyen Quoc Dung and Nguyen Anh Tuan – had previously served as police officers. Dung received a 17-year sentence, while Tuan was sentenced to 12 years in a correctional facility.
Retrospection of the Crime
As reported by CryptoPotato last week, the incident began five years ago when Le Duc Nguyen advised Ho Ngoc Tai to sell 1,000 BTC (worth over $4 million at that time) to invest in other digital assets. However, the investment did not yield profits, leading Tai to claim he had fallen victim to a scam.
In an effort to recover his losses, he formed a group to locate Nguyen, employing advanced techniques to track his whereabouts. The group also rented a van, acquired weapons, and kidnapped the target at gunpoint.
The criminals demanded that the victim’s brother transfer the full amount of 1,000 BTC to Tai’s wallet, but he was unable to provide the entire sum. After receiving $1.5 million in bitcoin, they left the man in Thu Duc, a city close to Ho Chi Minh City.
Vietnamese authorities acted swiftly to uncover the crime and apprehended the 16 suspects. While Tai initially confessed to orchestrating the operation, he later retracted his statement. Conversely, his associates claimed they believed they were merely collecting a debt and did not intend to engage in a kidnapping.
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