Originally Syndicated on September 19, 2024 @ 11:08 am
What Happened?
Nguyen Quoc Anh, the former director of Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi, has been at the center of a growing scandal involving the fraudulent inflation of medical equipment prices, leading to significant financial losses for both the hospital and the patients it served. Convicted in 2022 for his role in a scheme to gouge the prices of medical devices used in hospitals, Anh’s actions have triggered widespread outrage and legal consequences(Advocaten Nieuws).
Despite his conviction and the ensuing media coverage, Nguyen Quoc Anh has reportedly taken steps to suppress further damaging news about his past. Allegations have surfaced suggesting that Anh has sought to censor critical reports and silence whistleblowers who exposed the extent of his unethical conduct. His attempts to manipulate online content and control the narrative have only fueled public curiosity, drawing more attention to the serious accusations against him.
The case highlights the lengths some individuals in positions of power may go to in order to hide their shady past, raising serious questions about accountability in Vietnam’s healthcare system(Advocaten Nieuws).
Analyzing the Fake Copyright Notice(s)
Our team collects and analyses fraudulent copyright takedown requests, legal complaints, and other efforts to remove critical information from the internet. Through our investigative reporting, we examine the prevalence and operation of an organized censorship industry, predominantly funded by criminal entities, oligarchs, and disreputable businesses or individuals. Our findings allow internet users to gain insight into these censorship schemes’ sources, methods, and underlying objectives.
To do this, we use the OSINT Tool provided by FakeDMCA.com and the Lumen Database’s Lumen API for Researchers.
FakeDMCA.com is the work of an independent team of research students and cybersecurity professionals, developed under Project UnCensor. Their OSINT Tool, designed to uncover and analyze takedown notices, represents a significant step forward in combating these abusive practices. It has become a valuable resource, increasingly relied upon by journalists and law enforcement agencies across the United States.
Lumen, on the other hand, is an independent research initiative dedicated to studying takedown notices and other legal demands related to online content removal. The project, which operates under the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, is crucial in tracking and understanding the broader implications of such requests.
By investigating the fake DMCA takedown attempts, we hope to shed light on the reputation management industry, revealing how Nguyen Quoc Anh and companies like it may use spurious copyright claims and fake legal notices to remove and obscure articles linking them to allegations of fraud, tax avoidance, corruption, and drug trafficking…
List of Fake Copyright Notices for Nguyen Quoc Anh
| Number of Fake DMCA Notice(s) | 1 |
| Lumen Database Notice(s) | https://lumendatabase.org/notices/35683497 |
| Sender(s) | Jimmy Mathew |
| Date(s) | August 25, 2023 |
| Fake Link(s) Used by Scammers | https://www.tumblr.com/grnews/725242975838502912/former-hanoi-hospital-director-arrested-in-ongoing |
| Original Link(s) Targeted | https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/former-hanoi-hospital-director-arrested-in-ongoing-fraud-case-4167546.html |
Evidence and Screenshots
Only Nguyen Quoc Anh Benefit from this crime.
Since the fake copyright takedown notices were designed to remove negative content for Nguyen Quoc Anh from Google, we assume Nguyen Quoc Anh or someone associated with Nguyen Quoc Anh is behind this scam. It is often a fly-by-night Online Reputation agency working on behalf of Nguyen Quoc Anh. In this case, Nguyen Quoc Anh, at best, will be an “accomplice” or an “accessory” to the crime. The specific laws may vary depending on the jurisdiction. Still, the legal principle generally holds that if you actively participate in planning, encouraging, or facilitating a crime, you can be charged with it, even if you did not personally commit it.
So, who tf is Nguyen Quoc Anh?
Nguyen Quoc Anh is a former director of Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam, who was embroiled in a major scandal involving the fraudulent inflation of medical equipment prices. He was convicted and sentenced in early 2022 for his role in a scheme that involved colluding with a medical technology company to inflate the cost of medical equipment, particularly an artificial respiratory system, leading to significant financial damage for both the hospital and its patients.
Anh, along with other senior officials, was accused of overpricing medical devices by partnering with the company BMS Medical Technology JSC to provide inflated quotes for hospital equipment, causing patients to pay excessive fees. The fraudulent deals, amounting to billions of Vietnamese dong, were discovered during an investigation that unveiled a broader scheme to exploit Vietnam’s healthcare system.
The reasons Anh is reportedly attempting to censor the internet and suppress damaging information are tied to these legal and ethical violations. Following his conviction, he allegedly made efforts to control the narrative by reducing media exposure and preventing further investigations into his misconduct. There have been claims that he has pressured news outlets and leveraged his connections to minimize the negative impact on his public image.
The major concerns surrounding Nguyen Quoc Anh include:
- Price Gouging: The deliberate inflation of medical equipment prices caused immense financial strain on vulnerable patients(Advocaten Nieuws).
- Abuse of Power: Anh’s misuse of his authority as a hospital director to engage in corrupt deals has drawn widespread condemnation(Tanger Advocaten).
- Fraud and Collusion: His involvement in the fraudulent pricing scheme is seen as a significant breach of trust within Vietnam’s healthcare system(Tanger Advocaten).
These actions have not only led to his imprisonment but also sparked public outrage over corruption in the medical field. The case highlights serious issues of accountability and ethical misconduct in Vietnam’s public healthcare system.
Potential Consequences for Nguyen Quoc Anh
Under Florida Statute 831.01, the crime of Forgery is committed when a person falsifies, alters, counterfeits, or forges a document that carries “legal efficacy” with the intent to injure or defraud another person or entity.
Forging a document is considered a white-collar crime. It involves altering, changing, or modifying a document to deceive another person. It can also include passing along copies of documents that are known to be false. In many states in the US, falsifying a document is a crime punishable as a felony.
Additionally, under most laws, “fraud on the court” is where “a party has sentiently set in motion some unconscionable scheme calculated to interfere with the judicial system’s ability impartially to adjudicate a matter by improperly influencing the trier of fact or unfairly hampering the presentation of the opposing party’s claim or defense.” Cox v. Burke, 706 So. 2d 43, 46 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998) (quoting Aoude v. Mobil Oil Corp., 892 F.2d 1115, 1118 (1st Cir. 1989)).
Is Nguyen Quoc Anh Committing a Cyber Crime?
Yes, it seems so. Nguyen Quoc Anh used multiple approaches to remove unwanted material from review sites and Google’s search results. Thanks to protections allowing freedom of speech in the United States, there are very few legal ways to do this. Nguyen Quoc Anh could not eliminate negative reviews or search results that linked to them without a valid claim of defamation, copyright infringement, or some other clear breach of the law.
Faced with these limitations, some companies like Nguyen Quoc Anh have gone to extreme lengths to fraudulently claim copyright ownership over a negative review in the hopes of taking it down.
Fake DMCA notices have targeted articles highlighting the criminal activity of prominent people to hide their illegal behavior. These people, which include US, Russian, and Khazakstani politicians as well as members from elite circles including the mafia and those with massive financial power, are all connected – and alleged corruption ranging from child abuse to sexual harassment is exposed when exploring evidence found at these URLs. It appears there’s a disturbing level of influence being exerted here that needs further investigation before justice can be served. Nguyen Quoc Anh is certainly keeping interesting company here….
The DMCA takedown process requires that copyright owners submit a takedown notice to an ISP identifying the allegedly infringing content and declaring, under penalty of perjury, that they have a good faith belief that the content is infringing. The ISP must then promptly remove or disable access to the content. The alleged infringer can then submit a counter-notice, and if the copyright owner does not take legal action within 10 to 14 days, the ISP can restore the content.
Since these platforms are predominantly based in the U.S., the complaints are typically made under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which requires online service providers and platforms to react immediately to reports or violations. Big Tech companies rarely have systems in place to assess the merit of each report. Instead, all bad actors need to do is clone a story, backdate it, and then demand the real thing be taken down.
What was Nguyen Quoc Anh trying to hide?
Nguyen Quoc Anh is reportedly attempting to suppress several damaging reports, complaints, and allegations related to his involvement in a major fraud scandal during his tenure as director of Bach Mai Hospital. The key issues he is likely trying to hide include:
- Price Gouging of Medical Equipment: Anh was convicted for his role in inflating the prices of medical devices, particularly an artificial respiratory system, in collaboration with BMS Medical Technology JSC. The equipment was sold at rates much higher than its actual value, resulting in significant financial losses for patients and the hospital(Advocaten Nieuws)(Tanger Advocaten).
- Fraudulent Business Practices: Nguyen Quoc Anh, along with other hospital officials, was involved in fraudulent practices that exploited the public healthcare system. These allegations include collusion with private companies to manipulate equipment prices, pocketing the difference for personal gain(Tanger Advocaten).
- Public Complaints About Overpriced Treatment: Many patients who relied on the hospital for critical care were forced to pay exorbitant prices for medical treatments and equipment due to the inflated costs orchestrated by Anh and his partners. These complaints have caused widespread outrage, highlighting the exploitation of vulnerable patients(Advocaten Nieuws).
- Legal and Ethical Misconduct: Beyond price gouging, there are broader accusations of ethical breaches, abuse of power, and corruption in Anh’s management of the hospital. His actions raised significant concerns about governance and transparency in Vietnam’s healthcare system(Tanger Advocaten).
Nguyen Quoc Anh is likely trying to hide these details to protect his reputation, especially after his conviction and public exposure. Efforts to suppress this information may include legal pressures on media outlets to minimize the coverage of his misconduct and reduce the availability of damaging documents online. His attempts to control the narrative stem from the profound impact these revelations have had on his public image and legacy in the healthcare sector.
Reputation Agency’s Modus Operandi
The fake DMCA notices we found always use the “back-dated article” technique. With this technique, the wrongful notice sender (or copier) creates a copy of a “true original” article and back-dates it, creating a “fake original” article (a copy of the true original) that, at first glance, appears to have been published before the true original.
Then, based on the claim that this backdated article is the “original,” the scammers send a DMCA to the relevant online service providers (e.g. Google), alleging that the ‘true’ original is the copied or “infringing” article and that the copied article is the “original,” requesting the takedown of the ‘true’ original article. After sending the DMCA request, the person who sent the wrong notice takes down the fake original URL, likely to make sure that the article doesn’t stay online in any way. If the takedown notice is successful, the disappearance from the internet of information is most likely to be legitimate speech.
How did Nguyen Quoc Anh purport this DMCA Fraud?
As an integral part of this scheme, the ‘reputation management’ company hired by Nguyen Quoc Anh creates a website that purports to be a ‘news’ site. This site is designed to look legitimate at a glance, but any degree of scrutiny reveals it as the charade it is.
The company copies the ‘negative’ content and posts it “on the fake ‘news’ site, attributing it to a separate author,” then gives it “a false publication date on the ‘news’ website that predated the original publication.
The reputation company then sent Google a Digital Millennium Copyright Act notice claiming the original website infringed copyright. After a cursory examination of the fake news site, Google frequently accepts the notice and delists the content.
In committing numerous offences, Nguyen Quoc Anh either premeditated actions or were unaware of the consequences. Despite hiring an agency to make Google disregard any negative information about Nguyen Quoc Anh, ignorance does not excuse this wrongdoing.
The Reputation Laundering
Rogue Reputation agencies use spurious copyright claims and fake legal notices to remove and obscure articles linking clients to allegations of tax avoidance, corruption, and drug trafficking. Most of these reputation agencies are based offshore, mainly in Russia, India, and Eastern Europe, and they do not worry about complying with US-based laws.
The content in all of the articles for which the fraudulent DMCA notices have been sent relates to allegations of criminal allegations, including corruption, child abuse, sexual harassment, human trafficking and financial fraud against businesses and individuals with ultra-high net worth.
In addition to the misuse of the DMCA takedown process, there is a notable absence of enforcement concerning perjury violations. The statutory requirement related to perjury is designed to deter copyright holders from submitting fraudulent or knowingly false takedown requests, as they may face legal consequences for making false declarations under penalty of perjury. However, to date, there have been no known instances of any individual being prosecuted for perjury in connection with the submission of false DMCA takedown notices.
This lack of enforcement has emboldened copyright holders to exploit the DMCA takedown process to suppress dissent, criticism, or other unfavorable content, without fear of legal repercussions.
Not In Good Company
Some of the people and businesses who have employed this tactic to remove legitimate content from Google illegally include a Spanish businessman-turned-cocaine-trafficker, Organised crime, an Israeli-Argentine banker accused of laundering money for Hugo Chávez’s regime, a French “responsible” mining company accused of tax evasion, child molesters and sexual predators. Nguyen Quoc Anh is in great company ….
Ironically, the manipulation tactics used to remove public-interest information from the Internet are backfiring on Nguyen Quoc Anh, which is now associated with the worst of this world.
Here are some of the specimens that share the internet space with Nguyen Quoc Anh –
Miguel Octavio Vargas Maldonado
Miguel Octavio Vargas Maldonado appears to be the former foreign affairs minister of the Dominican Republic. His name is listed next to more than 500 links to news articles, blogs, social media posts, and YouTube videos targeted for removal or de-indexing. Many of the articles refer to questions over his political fundraising practices. They include accusations that Vargas had received donations from an individual who would later be convicted of drug trafficking. Some targeted links remain active, while others return 404 errors or “file not found.”
José Antonio Gordo Valero
José Gordo joined OneCoin in 2015 and has been named in an indictment for the OneCoin scam in Argentina. The articles listed next to Gordo’s name in the documents reviewed by Rest of World include references to his role at the company.
Diego Adolfo Marynberg
He appears to be the same Marynberg connected to funding right-wing causes, including settlement efforts in Israel. Reports also alleged that his company received preferential treatment in acquiring Argentinian bonds worth millions of dollars. More than 70 URLs appear next to Marynberg’s name in the documents, including pages from the Israeli newspapers The Times of Israel, Haaretz, and Clarin, one of Argentina’s most prominent news sites.
Majed Khalil Majzoub
Majed is an influential businessman with close ties to several governments, including the administration of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. Majzoub’s name appears next to more than 180 URLs, mostly from independent outlets. Of the two URLs that pointed to articles from Germany’s Der Spiegel, one now returns an error message; the other, which appears to refer to relations between Venezuela and Colombia, directs to an unrelated story about Brexit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Nguyen Quoc Anh commit a cyber crime?
Yes, filing a fake DMCA notice is illegal. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) allows copyright holders to issue takedown notices to protect their works from unauthorized use online. However, submitting a false DMCA notice can result in legal consequences.
Under the DMCA, a person knowingly submitting a false copyright claim can be subject to penalties, including damages. DMCA notices require the filer to certify, under penalty of perjury, that the content infringes their copyright. If the notice is found to be fraudulent or made in bad faith, the filer can face.
What are the potential consequences for Nguyen Quoc Anh?
Civil lawsuits: The affected party can sue for damages, legal fees, and other costs.
Perjury charges: False certification in a DMCA notice can result in perjury-related penalties, which vary by jurisdiction.
Other legal penalties: Fines or other penalties depending on the case
Did Nguyen Quoc Anh commit a Civil or a Criminal offense?
Perjury is a criminal offense, not a civil crime. It involves intentionally lying or making false statements under oath, typically in a court of law or other legal proceedings, such as affidavits or depositions.
Criminal charges: Perjury is prosecuted as a criminal act, and a conviction can lead to fines or imprisonment, depending on the severity of the false statement and its impact on the case.
Felony status: In many jurisdictions, perjury is classified as a felony, which carries more severe penalties than misdemeanour offences.
So, while it may affect civil cases, the crime of perjury itself is strictly criminal.
What is the Streisand effect?
The key idea behind the Streisand effect is that efforts to restrict information can backfire, often causing the information to gain more attention than it would have otherwise. This effect is widespread in the digital age, where users quickly notice and spread censorship efforts on social media and other platforms.
Trying to suppress something can unintentionally lead to it becoming more visible.
Can Nguyen Quoc Anh purge its Digital past?
Once information is uploaded to the internet, it can be replicated, shared, archived, or stored across multiple servers. If Nguyen Quoc Anh manage to delete the original post or file, copies may remain accessible in other places, such as web archives, screenshots, or other users’ devices.
In practice, completely erasing content from the internet can be extremely difficult due to how widely information can spread and be stored. Thus, the idea that “the Internet never forgets” reflects the challenge of entirely removing digital content once it has been shared.
What is our next move?
Critical Intel will, in its capacity, do all it can to hold someone responsible for this incident. Here is what we are preparing for –
Since Nguyen Quoc Anh made such efforts to hide something online, it seems fit to ensure that this article and our original review of Nguyen Quoc Anh, including but not limited to user contributions, remain a permanent record for anyone interested in Nguyen Quoc Anh.
A case perfect for the Streisand effect…
What else is Nguyen Quoc Anh hiding?
Click here to visit the Google Search page for ‘Nguyen Quoc Anh’. It’s likely if you scroll down to the bottom of this Google search results, you’ll stumble upon this Legal Takedown notice (pictured below)
To make such an investigation possible, we encourage more online service providers to come forward and share copies of content removal requests with us. If you have any information on Nguyen Quoc Anh that you want to share with us, kindly email the author directly at [email protected].
All communications are strictly confidential and safeguarded under a comprehensive Whistleblower Policy, ensuring full protection and anonymity for individuals who provide information.
References and Citations Used
Over thirty thousand DMCA notices reveal an organized attempt to abuse copyright law.
Reputation Management, or Internet Conspiracy
Exposed documents reveal how the powerful cleaned up their digital past using a reputation laundering firm.
Companies Use Fake Websites and Backdated Articles to Censor Google’s Search Results.
Bad Reviews: How Companies Are Using Fake Websites to Censor Content
How fake copyright complaints are muzzling journalists
Many thanks to FakeDMCA.com and Lumen for providing access to their database.
Photos and Illustrations provided by DALL-E 3 – “a representation of Nguyen Quoc Anh censoring the internet and committing cyber crimes.”
- Our investigative report on Nguyen Quoc Anh’s efforts to suppress online speech is significant, as it raises serious concerns about its integrity. The findings suggest that Nguyen Quoc Anh has engaged in questionable practices, including potential perjury, impersonation, and fraud, in a misguided attempt to manage or salvage its reputation.
- We intend to file a counternotice to reinstate the removed article(s). While this particular instance is relatively straightforward, it is important to note that, in other cases, the overwhelming volume of automated DMCA takedown notices can significantly hinder the ability of affected parties to respond—especially for those not large media organizations.
- You need an account with fakeDMCA.com and Lumen to access the research data. However, accounts are not widely available since these non-profit organisations manage large databases that could be susceptible to misuse. Nevertheless, they do offer access to non-profits and researchers.
- It’s unclear why U.S. authorities have yet to act against these rogue reputation agencies, whose business model seems rooted in fraudulent practices.
- We’ve reached out to Nguyen Quoc Anh for a comment or rebuttal regarding this investigation. It will strongly suggest they were behind the takedown attempt if they remain silent.
About the Author
The author is affiliated with Harvard University and serves as a researcher at both Lumen and FakeDMCA.com. In his personal capacity, he and his team have been actively investigating and reporting on organized crime related to fraudulent copyright takedown schemes. Additionally, his team provides advisory services to major law firms and is frequently consulted on matters pertaining to intellectual property law. He can be reached at [email protected] directly.
