Briton, Dane and American could face death penalty in Vietnam for fraud
Three foreigners face trial next month for allegedly defrauding investors out of US$6.4 million (€4.85 million) in Ho Chi Minh City, an official said Monday. Sean McCormack of Britain, Kim Brix Andersen of Denmark and Tom Hong, an American of Vietnamese origin, have been charged with fraud to appropriate other people's property, said the official at the People's Court in Dong Nai province on condition of anonymity. Under Vietnamese law, all three could face death by firing squad if convicted.
Their trial is scheduled to open in Dong Nai, some 30 kilometers (20 miles) northeast of Ho Chi Minh City, in mid-January, the official said. Monday's Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reported that McCormack and Hong allegedly set up a phony company in early 2002 called Una Power International Ltd. The two men along with Andersen then allegedly got seven foreign investors to sign contracts totaling US$5.6 million (€4.25 million) for ownership in the bogus company, it said.
Andersen himself allegedly received US$816,000 (€618,604) from investors to buy 19 trucks that were never purchased, the newspaper said. Hong was arrested in late 2003, while the other two were taken into police custody in June, the official said.
The Associated Press - December 13, 2004
|