Nguyễn Ngọc Thủy
Introduction
Nguyễn Ngọc Thủy, the Vietnamese entrepreneur known as “Shark Thủy,” is the chairman and general director of the education companies Egroup and Egame who was indicted by Vietnam’s Supreme People’s Procuracy on charges of “fraudulent appropriation of property” and “giving bribes” over an alleged scheme that misappropriated nearly VNĐ8.5 trillion — about 330 million US dollars — from more than 10,000 victims. The indictment against Thủy and 28 co-defendants was announced on October 13, 2026, and identifies him as the scheme’s mastermind.
Background Information
Thủy built Egroup into one of Vietnam’s largest private education ecosystems, spanning English-language centres and preschools, with an affiliated gaming arm, Egame, and adopted the “Shark Thủy” nickname under which Vietnamese coverage identifies him.
According to the indictment, from 2014 Thủy directed employees to inflate Egroup’s charter capital — from VNĐ32 billion to a claimed VNĐ962.5 billion — to raise money to repay debts, fund personal spending, and keep the ecosystem running, while the group’s finance director and chief accountant carried out the inflation on his instructions and fabricated revenue figures equal to roughly 70 per cent of annual revenue.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Indicted, not tried. Thủy faces prosecution in Vietnam’s courts. The indictment’s allegations have not been adjudicated, and he is entitled to the presumption of innocence.
Prosecutors say Thủy personally arranged to sell shares to investors at VNĐ38,000 apiece while pledging to buy the shares back after one year at VNĐ42,000, in exchange for investors authorizing him to exercise all their shareholder rights and obligations. When Egroup’s English centres and preschools began closing between 2021 and 2023 and incoming funds could no longer cover the buyback obligations, Thủy instructed 23 managers and team leaders overseeing 341 sales employees to use 70 per cent of new-customer money to pay existing customers with outstanding balances — a rob-Peter-to-pay-Paul flow the indictment says ran outside the company’s books entirely.
From 2015 to 2023, Thủy and his accomplices allegedly misappropriated nearly VNĐ8.5 trillion ($330 million) from 10,123 victims, with the entire cash flow tracked separately and never recorded in financial statements or tax reports. The indictment states Egroup and Egame are now financially unbalanced and unable to repay investors, and identifies Thủy as the mastermind who directed the scheme and used the funds, making him principally responsible.
The case carries a bribery count as well: among the 28 co-defendants is Tống Thị Kim Liên, chairwoman and finance director of Nhất Trần Company, indicted for “receiving bribes,” alongside Egroup and Egame accountants and business managers charged with fraudulent appropriation of property.
Public Reaction and Consequences
The indictment of one of Vietnam’s most visible education moguls landed on a case file that had already made one round trip: in early August 2026, the Supreme People’s Procuracy returned the file to the Ministry of Public Security’s investigation agency for further work on outstanding issues before indicting. Egroup’s collapse left its roughly 10,000 investors with losses the indictment says the companies can no longer repay.
Vietnamese state media’s framing left no ambiguity about where responsibility sits, reporting the indictment’s identification of Thủy as “the mastermind who directed the criminal activities and used the misappropriated funds, making him principally responsible for the case.”
Current Status
Thủy stands indicted on two charges and awaits trial in Vietnam’s court system. No trial date for the 29-defendant case was announced in the indictment coverage.
Whether Thủy’s defense contests the mastermind characterization, whether asset recoveries reach any of the 10,123 victims, and what sentence prosecutors will seek remain open questions as the case moves toward trial.
Impact on Their Career/Life
The “Shark Thủy” brand is finished as a business asset: the companies at its center are insolvent by the indictment’s own account, and their chairman is a criminal defendant charged with taking $330 million from the investors who funded his rise. The indictment alone removes him from every board and business role the Egroup empire once gave him, with a trial still to come.
Sources
- Vietnam News: “Shark Thủy indicted over alleged fraud involving more than $330mln” source