Six arrested in Vietnamese car-loan fraud ring that resold financed vehicles

Ho Chi Minh City police have dismantled a large-scale “bank car” ring that recruited people to submit fake installment-loan applications, then diverted the vehicles and took money from banks.

The Criminal Police Division has prosecuted and detained six suspects on allegations of property fraud. They are Lê Hiền Anh, Nguyễn Trần Bảo Trân, Nguyễn Thanh Hải, Nguyễn Hoàng Nam, Đào Thanh Sang and Lê Quốc Khánh. The procedural decisions were approved by the regional procuracy.

Investigators said the group began coordinating through social media in late 2025. It first looked for buyers interested in “bank cars,” vehicles still mortgaged to a bank and lacking their original registration documents. Buyers agreed on the model and price, then paid about 30% of the vehicle’s value, registration-related fees, the first three months of principal and interest, and commissions to the group.

The group then found people to put their names on installment-loan applications, promising them between 80 million and 100 million Vietnamese dong after they handed over the vehicles. Most of those recruited had no jobs or financial capacity. To obtain loan approval, the suspects allegedly forged employment contracts, salary statements and bank-account records, and borrowed business premises to stage photographs for bank assessments. They also prepared detailed scripts so applicants could present themselves as having stable incomes when bank officers called or visited.

After the bank released the money to the vehicle seller, the cars went directly to waiting buyers rather than to the named borrowers. The group paid the first three months of principal and interest to avoid immediate bad debt and keep the vehicles circulating through further sales. Police said Khánh submitted the loan applications, Trân and Nam handled paperwork and forged the documents, and Hiền Anh found buyers, collected money and divided the proceeds. The investigation remains open, and police warned that knowingly supporting false applications could lead to criminal charges.