VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Public Security has proposed that the Supreme People's Procuracy prosecute three men for seeking to swindle members of the public.

Mot lied to victims, saying the treasure consisted of ancient US dollar coins produced in 1923, with a value of US$10,000 per coin.— Photo nld

Those accused are Tran Van Mot, 41, from the southern province Long An, Tong Van Bien, 51, from HCM City, and Deo Van Nghia, 64, from the northern mountainous province of Lai Chau.

According to investigators, Mot founded the Ha Noi-Hoang Ngan One-Member Co Ltd, a company that had a charter capital of VND500 billion (US$23.8 million) and included 43 businesses, though the company did not carry out any business activities.

He and his accomplices falsely claimed to possess a treasure from the so-called Hoa Mai Hoi (Apricot Society), a bogus organisation set up by a group of swindlers in Viet Nam and abroad.

Mot lied to victims, saying the treasure consisted of ancient US dollar coins produced in 1923, with a value of US$10,000 per coin.

Mot also told his victims that the coins were in packages of 360 coins, worth $72 billion, and that he brought a number of these packages from abroad to be viewed in Viet Nam, which were part of the treasure.

The three men also showed their victims false "letters of authorisation" in foreign languages, according to which Mot was empowered to sell the remaining part of the treasure.

The swindlers tried to persuade their victims to contribute money to buy all the remaining old coins, which are counterfeit.

They also told victims that the Ha Noi-Hoang Ngan company had been authorized by the Government to carry out a programme to buy and resell the old coins.

With such tricks, the group successfully swindled VND3.9 billion ($185,700) out of several people.

Source: VNS