What is money laundering in Vietnam? What are some judgments on the crime of money laundering in Vietnam?

Money laundering impacts all aspects of economic and political life and also threatens national security. Currently, money laundering activities in Vietnam are increasingly becoming more complex.

1. What is money laundering in Vietnam?

According to Clause 1, Article 3 of the Vietnam Anti-Money Laundering Law 2022, money laundering is the act of organizations or individuals to legitimize the origin of property acquired from criminal acts.

Simultaneously, Clause 2, Article 3 of the Vietnam Anti-Money Laundering Law 2022 states that property acquired from criminal acts is property obtained directly or indirectly from criminal acts; including the income, benefits, interest, and profits generated from the property acquired from criminal acts.

Money laundering is the act of legitimizing the illegal origin of the property obtained from criminal activities.

2. What are penalties for the crime of money laundering in Vietnam?

In Vietnam, the crime of money laundering is handled according to the penalty framework specified in Article 324 of the Vietnam Criminal Code 2015 (amended 2017) as follows:

- Basic framework: Anyone who commits one of the following acts shall be sentenced to imprisonment from 01 year to 05 years:

+ Directly or indirectly participating in financial, banking, or other transactions to conceal the illegal origin of money or property acquired from one's own criminal acts or knowing or having grounds to know that it was acquired from others’ criminal acts;

+ Using money or property acquired from criminal acts committed by oneself or knowing or having grounds to know it was acquired from others' criminal acts for business activities or other purposes;

+ Concealing information about the origin, true nature, location, movement, or ownership rights with respect to money or property acquired from one's own criminal acts or knowing or having grounds to know it was acquired from others’ criminal acts or obstructing the verification of such information;

+ Engaging in one of the acts prescribed in points a, b, and c of Clause 1, Article 324 of the Vietnam Criminal Code 2015 (amended 2017) with respect to money or property known to be obtained from the conversion, transfer, acquisition, or change of money or property from others' criminal acts.

- Framework 2: Committing the crime in one of the following circumstances shall be sentenced to imprisonment from 05 years to 10 years:

+ Organized crime;

+ Exploiting positions or powers;

+ Committing the crime twice or more;

+ Having professional nature;

+ Using sophisticated and cunning methods;

+ The value of the money or property involved in the crime ranges from 200,000,000 VND to under 500,000,000 VND;

+ Illicit profits range from 50,000,000 VND to under 100,000,000 VND;

+ Dangerous recidivism.

- Framework 3: Committing the crime under one of the following circumstances shall be sentenced to imprisonment from 10 years to 15 years:

+ The value of the money or property involved in the crime is 500,000,000 VND or more;

+ Illicit profits are 100,000,000 VND or more;

+ Negatively affecting the national financial and monetary system security.

Individuals preparing to commit this crime shall be sentenced to imprisonment from 06 months to 03 years.

Persons committing money laundering in Vietnam shall be prosecuted for criminal liability with a penalty framework from 01 year to 15 years, depending on the severity of the violation.

Additionally, offenders may be fined from 20,000,000 VND to 100,000,000 VND, prohibited from holding certain positions, practicing professions, or performing certain jobs from 01 year to 05 years, or having part or all of their property confiscated.

3. What are some judgments on the crime of money laundering in Vietnam?

Below are some judgments on the crime of money laundering handled by courts in Vietnam:

Judgment on the crime of money laundering No. 09/2022/HS-PT

- Judicial authority: People's Court of Binh Duong province

- Extract content: Around June 2019, individuals impersonated Justice Department officials and called victims, falsely charging them with criminal involvement and demanding them to transfer money to designated accounts. Although aware that this money had criminal origins, Chang Chao C, Le Minh T enlisted Tran Manh H, Le Minh H, Le Minh Ch, and T himself to open accounts for the victims to transfer money into, as per the imposters' instructions.

Judgment on the crime of money laundering No. 580/2023/HS-PT

- Judicial authority: High People's Court in Ho Chi Minh City

- Extract content: To obtain spending money, Nguyen Quoc H engaged in fraudulent activities using social media platforms such as Facebook and Z to fabricate information about buying and selling frozen food to fraudulently appropriate 2,212,273,000 VND from 39 victims.

Additionally, H utilized accounts in the names of Ho Trinh A (H’s wife) at N2 Joint Stock Commercial Bank or Le Phuoc H1’s account at Q Joint Stock Commercial Bank to receive fraudulently obtained money, intending to make it difficult to trace the origin, true nature, position, and movement of the criminally obtained money, which was then used for gambling, lottery dealership operations, and personal expenses.

Judgment on the crime of money laundering No. 277/2022/HS-PT

- Judicial authority: High People's Court in Da Nang

- Extract content: From early 2020 to April 17, 2020, in Ho Chi Minh City, defendants N Chibuzor F, Nnameka Samuel U, Ngo Hai N2, Umeh S C, Vu Ai L2, and Pham Ngoc D engaged in online transactions to purchase various bank accounts, using these accounts to receive and withdraw money transferred by others’ criminal activities, thereby earning commissions.

During the same period, Pham Ngoc D also sought to buy multiple bank accounts through the internet and sold them to foreign individuals for profit. Through these transactions, D agreed to withdraw money upon their request, with the total amount of criminally transferred money that D participated in withdrawing totaling 3,153,420,000 VND, from which D earned illicit profits amounting to 63,068,400 VND.

Respectfully!

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