Landlords not hiking rent for poor get tax break

Ho Chi Minh City has unveiled a 20-percent tax rebate to house owners who undertake not to raise rents this year for students and workers.

The rebate will apply from May.

Creches pledging not to increase the fees for workers’ children will also get this rebate.

The city Taxation Department said it has got approval from the General Department of Taxation for the scheme.

There are more than 1.2 million workers and students leasing houses and rooms in the city, according to the People’s Committee.

So far owners of 38,530 houses and 257,484 rooms have undertaken not to raise rents until the end of 2011, benefitting 750,000 lessees, it said.

According to an official from the Ministry of Finance, HCMC is the first locality to begin this program.

Other provinces and cities who want to offer the tax break to house owners and creches can apply to the General Department of Taxation, he added.

Man arrested in fancy SIMs fraud

Hanoi police yesterday arrested a 28-year-old man for conning VND240 million (US$12,000) off victims who were lured into buy fancy SIM card numbers which were never delivered.

The arrested is Tran Xuan Chien, from the northern city of Hai Phong, who owns an Internet services shop in Le Chan district.

After Chien by chance found an ID card bearing the name Dang Van Toi on the street, he opened an account at the BIDV bank (Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam) under that ID in September 2009.

After that, he registered a series of accounts on customer-to-customer websites like muaban.com.vn; raovat.com; raovat.vn and posted advertisements claiming he has many fancy SIM numbers that end in 999; 888; 6688, 6868; 0000; 1111; 5555, ect.

Chien offered to sell them at relatively cheap prices so he quickly received many orders.

He would then instruct customers to transfer money to his recently-opened bank account (under the ID he found on the street) and when he received the cash, would cut off contacts with them.

Hanoi cuts Internet at 77 online game shops

Hanoi authorities yesterday ordered telecommunication companies to cut off Internet services to 77 online game shops that operate too near schools or overnight.

They are those which are located less than 200m from schools or those which violate the ban that prohibits Internet shops to offer online game services from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m.

The ban was issued by the Ministry of Information and Communications and has taken effect starting March 30.

So far this year, the Hanoi Department of Information and Communication has asked telecommunication enterprises to cut services to 615 telephone subscribers that violate regulations on advertisement.

City police arrest mail-order bride broker

The Ho Chi Minh City police yesterday broke up yet another mail-order bride racket and took in a local woman after they caught her lining up five young Vietnamese women for a Chinese man in a city cafe.

They had been keeping an eye on Ha My Nga, 44, a resident of the city’s District 11, and followed her to the café on Binh Phu Street, District 6.

Qi Shui Hua, 38, from China’s Jujian Province, had been brought there to see the women by Phu Duc Hang, 53, of Binh Tan District.

At the office of the Social Crimes Police Department’s Team 5, Nga admitted that she often brought Vietnamese women for foreigners to pick a bride.

She got paid a “training fee” in case a client did pick one.

Lieutenant Colonel Phan Chi Hung, head of Team 5, said Nga mainly brought women wishing to marry foreigners from southern provinces like Ca Mau and An Giang.

VN, French doctors talk nuclear medicine

Over 500 international and domestic delegates attended the third Conference on Vietnam-France Medical Imaging and Nuclear Medicine in the central province of Thua Thien - Hue on April 21.

Jointly organised by the Vietnam Society of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine (VSRNM) and the French Society of Radiology (FSR), the three-day event will introduce programmes on emergency cardiovascular treatment and mental diseases as well as cancer and breast cancer diagnosis.

Hoang Duc Kiet, President of VSRNM said that since the first conference was held in Hanoi in September, 1995, the Vietnamese nuclear medicine sector has received support from the French government, France’s GREF group and FSR with many lectures and scholarships to young Vietnamese doctors.

So far, VSRNM has gathered 800 members as specialists along with modern equipment for imaging diagnosis and nuclear medicine such as digital X-ray and colour ultrasound scanning equipment.

At the opening ceremony, the Hanoi Medical University conferred Honorary Professor titles on professors Philippe Devred, Michel Panuel and Laurent Pierot from France./.

Nine arrested for knifing police

Police said Thursday morning that they have arrested all 9 gangsters involved in the attack on two policemen who were bad stabbed when they chased suspicious-looking men in the central Da Nang city yesterday morning.

The arrested are all in their twenties.

Nguyen Van Nhon and Duong Minh Trung of the PC65 police unit confronted the two men at the junction of Nguyen Thi Minh Khai and Hung Vuong Streets when more gangsters arrived and attacked them with knives and scimitars.

The gangsters seemed to pay no heed even when Trung and Nhon fired three shots in the air.

Nhon was stabbed five times while Trung was slashed thrice.

By then, the reinforcements they had called for arrived and arrested four -- Nguyen Thanh Hieu, 24 Nguyen Thanh Hau, 28 Tran Van Hoang, 23 and Phan Phat 24 -- at gun point.

Today, five more were arrested. They are Tran Quang Huan, Nguyen Huu Dang Vinh, both 23 and Le Dinh Khanh, 25, Duong Van Loc, 25 and Nguyen Van Huong, 23, according to Dan Tri newswire.

They told police that on April 19 night, Hieu, Hoang, Vinh and Huan had an argument with other men in at the TV Club on Nguyen Chi Thanh Street.

Upon hearing that Hieu was attacked, Nguyen Thanh Hau asked his mother to give him two scimitars and he and his friends gathered at the crossroad of Hung Vuong and Nguyen Thi Minh Khai streets near TV Club to take revenge.

At that time, two policemen appeared and suspected that Vinh and Huan were robbers.

After being attacked, they were hospitalized and are now recovering.

16 ethnic workers in coma after fish poisoning

16 were hospitalized for emergency treatment today evening (Thursday) in the central province of Thua Thien Hue after falling into a coma. They had earlier eaten fish randomly picked up on a beach.

Earlier at noon, the group came for an examination at a medical center in Lang Co town with symptoms of food poisoning like dizziness and vomiting.

Later all the 16 fell into a coma and were transferred to a hospital in Phu Loc district.

Four of them are in a deep coma and in critical condition.

Before falling into unconsciousness, they told doctors they had picked up a bag of goby fish at Lang Co beach in the morning and cooked them for food.

According to initial information, the 16 are of an ethnic minority group from Thanh Hoa province.

They were working as manual workers at a forest in Lang Co.

Doctors are examining the food sample.

Japan to cover airfares for returning foreign students

The Japanese education ministry will pay airfares for foreign students to come back for studies after many fled the country when it was hit by a dual disaster of earthquake and tsunami last month.

The information was provided by Nguyen Xuan Vang, director of the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training’s International Education Development agency.

Vang notes that only students granted Japanese scholarships will be eligible for this financial support.

Japan will pay tuition for the first semester (Apri-July) for foreign students who are self-financed and can pass a special exam to be organized by the Japanese ministry, he adds.

The country is also set to give certain support to the victims of the catastrophe, including foreign students.

Deadlines for tuition and health care fees of foreign students will be extended as well.

Many Vietnamese students left Japan for their home country following the devastating earthquake that killed tens of thousands of people in March.

Japan then put off admitting foreign students to areas that were considered insecure at the time.

Japanese schools have resumed operations lately.

The Vietnamese ministry advises Vietnamese students to contact its representative office in Tokyo in case of difficulty.

Doctors on trial for stealing $124,000 drugs

The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court this morning opened the trial against Dr. Luu To Lan and her 11 accomplices for “abusing power and positions” in faking prescriptions and stealing VND2.6 billion (US$124,000) worth of drugs.

Lan, 43 years old, used to work for the famous Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City.

Lan’s accomplices include Luu Thi Lieu, medical representative; Huynh Quoc Thai, 50, Cho Ray’s pharmaceutical department staff; Luu Quoc Bao, doctor at Binh Phuoc Province General hospital; Nguyen Thi Mai, 51, Cho Ray’s Pharmaceutical Department staff; Nguyen Thi Thu Ba, 54, a medical staff from Tan Binh Hospital; Dr. Pham Minh Hung, 38, from Thu Duc General Hospital; Vui Xuan Chien, 29, a medical technician from HCMC’s Thu Duc District General Hospital; Dr. Tran Dinh Tuy, 41, from HCMC’s District 7 Hospital; Dr. Nguyen Son Lam. 34, from Dong Nai Province Pediatrics Hospital; Dr. Hoang Van Tien, 27, from Thong Nhat General Hospital in Dong Nai Province; and Pham Thi Duyen, 29, from HCMC.

Defendant Huynh Quoc Thai lodged an application to the court for trial in absentia due to health reasons.

The trial is expected to last for two days.

According to the indictment from the Supreme People’s Procuracy, between January and April 2009, Lan, a former doctor of Cho Ray Hospital’s Endocrinology Department, faked 1,168 prescriptions worth VND4.1 billion (US$196,000) for health insurance holders, who in fact did not come to the hospital for any examination.

Most of those prescriptions were very expensive, from VND2.5-5 million ($119.5-239) each.

Lan had many people borrow heath insurance cards from cardholders in Ho Chi Minh City and neighboring provinces, after which she had doctors issue false hospital transfer forms for those cardholders to Cho Ray Hospital for examination.

For each ‘medical record’, including a health insurance card and a hospital transfer form, Lan paid VND300,000-1.4 million to the providers.

Lan then colluded with some doctors, nurses and other employees of Cho Ray Hospital to neglect regulations related to medical examination and treatment so that she could write false prescriptions to “virtual patients” to appropriate the drugs.

For each step related to issuing the false prescriptions, Lan paid VND150,000 – 200,000 to the people who helped her.

Lan and her accomplices sold the drugs to pharmacies for VND2.6 billion ($124,000), just two-third of the market value, and then shared the money, of which Lan got VND1.1 billion ($52,600).

Underground gang gets over 100 years in jail

The northern Quang Tri Province People’s Court yesterday announced sentences totaling over 100 years in prison to an underworld gang in the province’s capital city of Dong Ha.

Charged with murder and deliberate assault, Nguyen Thanh Long, the gang leader, 36, was sentenced to 21 years in jail; Nguyen Luong Hat, 40, got 22 years; and Nguyen Dinh Nhan, 23, was given 19 years.

Meanwhile, the court gave 15 years in jail to Ho Sy Tam, 22; 13 years to Nguyen Van Truong Song; 12 years to Nguyen Luong Lon, 27; and 7 years to Nguyen Dinh Tuyen, 24, for murder.

On April 30, 2010, after a conflict with two brothers Vo Van Thong and Vo Van Thao at a local café in Dong Luong ward, the gang brought knives to Thong’s house, also in the ward, to attack Thong and Thao.

Luckily, their violent action was prevented in time by the ward police.

One day later, the gang came to Thong’s house again and then slashed and stabbed the two brothers, causing serious injuries to them.

Under the court’s judgment, all the seven defendants have to pay VND177 million (US$8,460) to Thong as compensation.

The judge also ordered Long, Hat, and Nhan to compensate Thao with VND24 million ($1,150).

In 1997, Dong Ha town People’s Court sentenced Long to 5 months in prison for robbery and the Quang Tri province People’s Court gave him got 30 months in jail for acting against police on duty and escaping from prison.

In 2009, a local district court gave Long a suspended sentence of 18 months for causing a serious traffic accident that killed 2 people.

Slave boy rescued from HCMC factory hospitalized

15-year-old Pham Tan Hop, one of the six children recently rescued from a sweat shop in Ho Chi Minh City’ Binh Tan District, was taken to Phu Yen Province General Hospital for mental treatment.

Hop was among the boys saved from the sewing factory after being forced to toil for months.

At the time when the boys were found at the factory, at 59/18, Road 8, Quarter 16, Binh Hung Hoa A Ward, Hop had already developed symptoms of illness.

After taken home in northern Phu Yen province on April 16, he continued suffering from cough, fever, chest pain, and fatigue.

On April 17, while talking with others at home, Hop suddenly suffered from a headache and had difficulty in breathing. He then threw himself on the floor crying in pain.

Dr. Pham Van Minh, deputy head of the Pediatric Department of the hospital, said Hop might have developed mental or psychological diseases due to long exposure to bad living and working conditions.

“The department has asked the hospital’s mental doctors to examine and diagnose him,” he said.

Earlier, Han, one of the boys, told police that at Bui’s factory, they had to work nonstop from 7 a.m. to 11 or 12 p.m every day, except for a few hours for meals provided by the owner.

“We weren’t allowed to go out, except for only a short while during the Lunar New Year when we were taken out by the boss’ children,” Han said.

Hoang Ba Bui, the factory’s owner, told the police he had “received” Hop, Han and another boy - Hoang - from a motorbike taxi driver last October.

Bui said he paid the driver VND3 million (US$145) for introducing the three boys to him.

The boys were previously students at Nguyen Tat Thanh Junior High School in Tay Hoa District, northern Phu Yen province.

They told Tuoi Tre that they travelled by bus to Ho Chi Minh City to seek jobs on October 12, 2010.

When they arrived at the Eastern Bus Station, the said motorbike taxi driver came over and said he could help them get jobs. He then took them to Bui’s factory.

After rescuing the boys, local authorities forced Bui to pay the boys VND4.5 million ($215) each for their six months of working.

His factory was suspended on April 16.

Source: Tuoi Tre/SGGP/VNA