Vietnam court sentences two men to life in prison over $1.5M crypto theft
A Vietnamese court has sentenced two men to life in prison for violent cryptocurrency theft. star report May 16th.
Ho Ngoc Thai and Tran Ngoc Hoang were convicted of stealing cryptocurrencies worth VND37 billion ($1.5 million).
The other 14 received prison terms of 9 to 19 years. Two of them were former police officers, according to the report.
The crime stems from an incident in 2018 in which Mr. Tai followed the advice of his victim, Le Duc Nguyen. Thai sold Bitcoin after Nguyen suggested he should invest in other cryptocurrencies. Mr. Tai subsequently suffered a loss on those investments.
Believing he had been tricked, Tai teamed up with 15 others to steal cryptocurrency from Nguyen in a conspiracy that included stalking, kidnapping, and threatening HIV infection. Nugen, his wife and children were all targeted in this scheme. Nguyen’s brother was also contacted, but he never handed over any of the cryptocurrency.
Criminals have to pay VND18.8 billion to victims. The stolen cryptocurrency is reportedly not a legal payment method in Vietnam, so it was converted into local currency.
Despite the fact that cryptocurrencies are not legally recognized in Vietnam, the country is one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency adopters. According to Chainalysis’ 2022 report, the country ranked first, ahead of the Philippines and Ukraine in various indicators.
Post-Vietnam court sentences two men to life in prison for stealing $1.5 million in cryptocurrency First published on CryptoSlate.
