Two jailed over Taiwan jobs fraud
HANOI - Two men were jailed in Vietnam for duping people into handing over money to secure non-existent jobs in Taiwan, officials
said today.
The Hanoi's People Court on Monday sentenced La Van Hoa, 40, to five years in prison for masterminding the scheme, a court clerk
said. An accomplice was jailed for 30 months, while a third person, a woman, was given a two-year suspended sentence.
The gang was found guilty of deceiving 20 job-seekers in the northern provinces of Phu Tho and Hai Duong to part with at least 3,000
dollars each in return for work visas and lucrative jobs in Taiwan. Between late 2000 and November 2002 they sent 11 people to
Taiwan on tourist visas, but on arrival the workers discovered they were not eligible to work and the jobs they were promised did not
exist, the clerk said.
State media said some of them remained in Taiwan, overstaying their tourist visas and living off the black economy. Overseas jobs
are highly sought after in Vietnam, where salaries are extremely low. Taiwan, Japan, Malaysia and South Korea account for the
largest number of Vietnamese guest-workers.
Agence France Presse - October 28, 2003
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