HAI PHONG: Hai Phong Police, working with the public security ministry’s hi-tech crime prevention department, raided BBG financial group’s office on Tran Phu Road to look for evidence of illegal trading activities.
The police seized several documents related to illegal gold trading in the cities of Hai Phong, Ha Noi, HCM City and Da Nang. Earlier, the investigation agency quickly arrested the company’s Chairman of the management board and General Director Le Minh Quang.
The BBG group reportedly operates an underground gold trading floor that has many branches in cities and provinces across the country. Police say BBG group was established in 2010 in Da Nang City. Since then, the group has expanded rapidly and has 19 branches in provinces and cities with 600 employees.
It operates like a virtual trading floor for gold, currency and precious metals and does consultancy and gives credit, attracting hundreds of traders who use virtual points that are paid for with real money.
BBG offered several attractive incentives such as keeping gold with a monthly interest rate of 1.8 to 11.5 per cent and higher interest rates, depending on each term of sending.The group managed to collect VND600 billion (US$27.7 million).
At the BBG branch in Hai Phong City particularly, the police identified nearly 250 investors who participated on the virtual gold trading floor with nearly VND100 billion ($4.6 million).
To attract traders, BBG was willing to give virtual money to investors, who traded gold on the floor without paying money prior to the transaction. If the investors failed in their trading, they had to pay real money to BBG. The police are continuing to investigate BBG’s activities.
