Nguyen Ngoc Thuy - commonly known as “Shark Thuy” - has been accused of orchestrating a massive fraud scheme that defrauded over 10,000 investors out of 7,677 billion VND (approximately 310 million USD). Investigators say more than 30 real estate assets linked to him are currently mortgaged to banks.

According to the investigation, Egroup JSC was founded in 2008 with a registered capital of 32 billion VND, with Nguyen Ngoc Thuy serving as Chairman, CEO, and legal representative.

Egroup operated as a holding company overseeing a network of 20 subsidiaries. Its role was to raise capital, coordinate finances, and invest across its ecosystem.

Among the key subsidiaries were Apax English and Igarten Education Development JSC, both of which ran English centers and preschools - core revenue generators for the group.

To raise capital from the public, Thuy primarily used four corporate entities: Egroup, Egame Investment & Distribution JSC, Apax English JSC, and Igarten.

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Nguyen Ngoc Thuy. Photo: Ministry of Public Security

Faced with business losses and ambitious expansion plans into education and wellness, Thuy launched aggressive capital-raising campaigns. He instructed his team to use Egame as the legal entity for offering shares.

Between 2014 and 2016, Egroup’s registered capital was rapidly increased from 32 billion VND to 962.5 billion VND. However, the company showed almost no real business activity or revenue generation during this period.

From 2015 to 2023, Thuy allegedly used Egame’s legal identity to promote the company’s image. Investors were presented with a rosy picture of Egroup as a reputable education group led by a celebrity entrepreneur - “Shark Thuy.”

Despite lacking real assets or financial capacity, Thuy directed the launch of 130 Apax English centers and STEAMe preschools (under Igarten) nationwide.

These operations were largely superficial, meant to generate revenue and serve as fronts to boost investor confidence.

To gain investor trust and facilitate fake share sales, Thuy ordered Egroup’s capital to be falsely inflated from 32 billion to 962.5 billion VND and instructed teams to fabricate revenue and profits, portraying Egroup as a diversified, high-profit enterprise.

He even organized training for the sales staff to persuade the public with facility tours and contracts promising 15–20% returns.

Using these tactics, from 2015 to 2023, Thuy and his subordinates allegedly transferred 209.7 million fake shares to 10,123 investors through 26,354 contracts. The total amount defrauded was confirmed to be 7,677 billion VND (over 310 million USD).

Seized assets under investigation

During the investigation, police traced financial flows linked to criminal conduct and moved to freeze or seize relevant assets under Thuy’s name or held on his behalf.

So far, Thuy and his associates have voluntarily returned over 47 billion VND (nearly 1.9 million USD) to the Ministry of Public Security’s temporary holding account.

Authorities have frozen one of Thuy’s bank accounts with more than 101 million VND (around 4,000 USD) and seized shares and securities connected to suspects with an estimated value exceeding 127 billion VND (about 5.1 million USD).

Regarding real estate, investigators identified 32 properties under the Egroup ecosystem, but all of them are currently mortgaged to BIDV Bank’s Thanh Xuan branch.

T. Nhung