HO CHI MINH CITY -- Vietnam began the trial of a TikToker, a 'Shark Tank Vietnam' star and 186 others on Monday, one of its biggest alleged internet crimes ever that exposed the power of social media personalities to lure investors into fake trading schemes.

Pho Duc Nam, who flaunted Rolls-Royces and cash-stuffed suitcases on social media, is accused of using his online fame to work with accomplices and lure people into fake stock and currency trading websites, only to bilk them of 1.57 trillion dong ($61 million).

The case, which includes charges that former 'Shark Tank Vietnam' judge Nguyen Hoa Binh laundered money, drew comparisons with that of death row inmate Truong My Lan whose yachts and purses are being sold to redress the billions she stole.

Court proceedings opened in Hanoi, according to state media. Convictions for asset misappropriation worth more than 500 million dong carry sentences ranging from 18 years to life in prison under Vietnam's penal code.

The cross-border case has raised questions about the influence of social media personalities, following reports that thousands of locals tried to follow in the defendants' opulent footsteps, either by investing or by joining in the racket.

Hanoi police said they worked with Interpol to arrest two other Vietnamese: another influencer and ringleader in the Philippines and his wife in Thailand.

According to the government, Nam hatched the plot with a Turkish citizen and plowed money into dozens of apartments including in Dubai and Australia, as well as bank accounts in Singapore and Cambodia. Officials froze 5.3 trillion dong in assets tied to multiple defendants. That includes gold bars, watches, other jewelry, cash in various currencies, 41 vehicles and many suspended property transactions.

The suspects hired more than 1,000 staff in offices across Vietnam to "entice victims into making investments and then misappropriate their assets," the government said.

People use smartphones at a cafe in Ho Chi Minh City on Oct. 28, 2024. Social media has become an increasingly important part of daily life in Vietnam.

Nam told officers he "often bragged about beautiful homes and luxury cars to build trust with viewers" of his social media posts, Voice of Ho Chi Minh City, or VOH, news reported. The government outlet said this lifestyle image then made it easy for the defendants to "lure victims to their fraudulent exchanges." After his arrest, Nam's family tried to buy a psychiatric assessment so he would not have to sit in jail, according to Voice of Vietnam, or VOV, another government outlet. That is not rare: The one-party state conducted an unrelated mass trial of doctors and patients for allegedly forging psychiatric diagnoses to get criminal sentences reduced.

Investment schemes "exploit the rising combination of aspiration and anxiety that makes Vietnam's economy at once dynamic and risky," Jonathan London, a professor at Leiden University, told Nikkei Asia. "The advent of social media, which glorifies consumption and fast money, generates ample opportunities for nefarious actors to prey on the general public."

He said, "People see spectacular wealth and want a share in the country's prosperity and the comforts available to the overprivileged" including well-connected families with "advantages that can accumulate across generations." Besides holding grifters accountable, London said, authorities can strengthen access to economic opportunity, as well as consumer, financial, and social protections.