HCMC – Danang police have arrested Nguyen Quang Hoang, the 36-year-old CEO of GFDI Company, on alleged charges of fraud and asset misappropriation, said local media reports.
On November 18, local police filed legal proceedings against Nguyen Quang Hoang, CEO of GFDI Company, for allegedly defrauding more than 7,000 investors of VND3.7 trillion, shortly after hundreds of victims gathered to reclaim their funds.
Tran Thi My Hanh, head of Treasury at GFDI, was also prosecuted and detained by Danang police for investigation on alleged charges of fraud and asset misappropriation.
On the same charges, GFDI executives Nguyen Do Dat, chief financial officer; To Hong Tra, branch director of the trading office; and Tran Thi Kieu Trang, deputy director, have been prosecuted and placed under a travel ban, prohibiting them from leaving their place of residence.
During the investigation, the police determined that GFDI Investment Consulting got a business registration certificate from the Danang Department of Planning and Investment in 2018, with total charter capital of VND80 billion.
Since May 2018, GFDI has raised capital through loan agreements signed with clients.
Authorities have accused CEO Hoang of instructing the company to provide falsified information, saying that customer funds would be used by GFDI to invest in high-return projects, including F&B ventures, consumer goods production and trade, and film production. The company also promised to repay the principal and interest as per the terms of the contract.
To build trust and attract customers, Hoang directed GFDI to publish promotional materials and run various marketing campaigns to showcase the above investment projects. At the same time, the company offered attractive loan interest rates, significantly higher than those of banks.
However, after receiving money from customers, Hoang misused the funds for purposes unrelated to the investment projects, instead using them to cover expenses for soliciting loans and paying interest on maturing contracts. The initial investigation found that Hoang swindled 7,541 customers out of over VND3.7 trillion.
