Long jail term sought for French national accused of fraud in Vietnam
HANOI - Vietnamese prosecutors have sought a jail sentence of up to 27 years for a French national of Vietnamese origin who stands accused of mobile phone smuggling and fraud.
Nguyen Gia Thieu is a former director of Dong Nam, Vietnam's sole distributor of
Nokia and Samsung mobile phones. He has been detained since January 2003 and is being tried along with 16 other people.
Prosecutors asked the court to sentence Thieu to between 24 and 27 years and the other defendants to lesser or suspended jail terms. A verdict is expected on November 30.
Thieu is accused of having smuggled into Vietnam more than 39,500 mobile phone sets worth 10 million dollars between 1999 and 2002. The tax fraud is estimated to be worth six million dollars, a court official said on Wednesday.
He is also accused of illegally transferring nearly 20 million dollars abroad during this period.
The French embassy did not comment on the case but French diplomats are said to have followed it closely.
Agence France Presse - November 23, 2005.
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