Wanted South Korean fraudster arrested in Hà Nội

Kim Jin Ki was arrested after two years on the run. — Photo courtesy of the Criminal Police Department

HÀ NỘI — A wanted South Korean fraudster was caught in Hà Nội after two years on the run.

Kim Jin Ki, born in 1956, was arrested at around 8.15am on Sunday at an apartment building in Mễ Trì Ward, Nam Từ Liêm District.

Kim was the representative director of the Seoul-based TAS C&M Inc. and was wanted internationally for his involvement in a fraudulent investments scam.

Victims were told TAS C&M was operating a factory in Eumseong-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do in South Korea and that they could get 3 per cent monthly profit if they invested in the business. 

The company had actually received the authorisation on several meat-processing patents, making huge profits by turning low-quality meat into more premium products. 

From August 2017 to June 2019, Kim and his accomplices took a total of 150 billion won (US$122.4 million) from around 1,000 victims.

Investigations show that Kim fled to Việt Nam in 2020, where he constantly moved between cities and provinces to hide from the authorities.

He asked others to sign his house rental contracts and took precautions to not stay with his wife when she entered Việt Nam.

On Monday, Việt Nam’s Criminal Police Department handed him over to the South Korean police with the assistance of the South Korean Embassy. — VnExpress News