Vietnamese man detained for virtually running $420,500 loan shark ring

Police in Da Nang City, central Vietnam announced on Saturday that they had arrested a 32-year-old man for allegedly masterminding a loan shark ring worth over VND10.2 billion (US$420,532). The suspect was identified as Pham Van Thong, a native of Hai Phong City in northern Vietnam. In June this year, police officers discovered some non-residents of Da Nang probably offered illegal lending services across varied provinces and cities. Police probed into the case and found out Thong was the leader of this suspected loan shark ring. Despite being the ringleader, he remained almost absent from Da Nang and operated the ring remotely.