On March 23, 2026, the Ministry of Public Security announced that the Security Investigation Agency had officially initiated a criminal case related to the activities of the ONUS cryptocurrency exchange and the HanaGold digital gold business. The case is being investigated under two serious charges: using computer networks, telecommunication networks, or electronic means to misappropriate assets and money laundering, attracting significant attention from the cryptocurrency investment community in Vietnam.
According to information from the investigating agency, the group of defendants was identified as having built and operated a digital asset ecosystem for many years, issuing Token such as VNDC, ONUS, and HNG, and then widely offering them to investors through the ONUS trading platform. Three key figures have been prosecuted and detained: Vuong Le Vinh Nhan, Tran Quang Chien, and Ngo Thi Thao. In addition, four other defendants have been prosecuted for the same crime of appropriating assets through the internet, and one person has been prosecuted for money laundering, bringing the total number of defendants detained in the case to eight. The procedural decisions have been approved by the Supreme People's Procuracy.
Authorities have identified Vuong Le Vinh Nhan as the mastermind behind the entire operation. This suspect previously held several key positions within the business ecosystem, including Chairman of the Board of Directors of HVA Group, Chairman of OnusChain, and executive member of Vemanti Group. Meanwhile, Tran Quang Chien has been identified as the technical administrator of the ONUS platform, co-founder since 2020, and manager of Onus Labs Technology. The remaining individual, Ngo Thi Thao, also known as Hana Ngo, is the controlling shareholder and Director of HanaGold.
According to initial investigations, from 2018 to the present, the accused group allegedly created their own cryptocurrency ecosystem, Token Issuance , and promoted it to investors with allegedly false information about its potential, profitability, and safety. Investigators believe the suspects carried out numerous transactions creating artificial supply and demand to manipulate prices, causing the market to appear to be experiencing artificial growth to attract new capital. The ultimate goal was identified as misappropriating investors' assets and legitimizing the flow of funds through multiple layers of transactions.
This case is considered one of the strongest actions taken by Vietnamese authorities against the digital asset sector in recent times. Following the cryptocurrency boom of 2020-2022, Vietnam has seen a large number of individual investors entering the market, leading to increased risks of fraud, pyramid schemes, and disguised Capital models. In the context of the government's efforts to build a legal framework for digital assets and blockchain technology, handling major cases is XEM as a step towards restoring market order, protecting investors, and increasing transparency.
