Man gets 8 years for switching votive money with real notes

The appeal court of the Supreme People’s Court in Ho Chi Minh City has sentenced a former banking employee to eight years in prison for appropriating over US$100,000 from his bank by switching votive money for true ones.

27-year-old Nguyen Phi Vu, who had worked for a Shinhan Vina Bank branch in Binh Duong Province’s Di An Town, was charged for swindling to appropriate assets.

This sentence is two years less than the 10-year sentence previously handed down to Vu by the provincial People’s Court at his first instance hearing, after which he appealed for a commutation.

In mid-2010 Vu bought a large amount of votive banknotes, which are usually burned as offerings (e.g for dead people) in ceremonies, and then used them as substitutes for a number of real banknotes that he received from clients.

After the substitution, he tied and sealed the money, including votive banknotes, into bundles and submitted them to the bank’s cashier.

His fraudulent act was discovered on August 5, 2011, when the cashier discovered the money he submitted was VND90 million less than required.

The submitted money was examined carefully and fake banknotes were spotted.

The bank checked all the money previously submitted by Vu and found out that he had appropriated a total of more than VND1.8 billion ($86,400) through the trick.

The votive banknotes had values of VND500,000 and VND100,000.

Vu fled after his act was discovered, but was seized later.

Vu was also found to appropriate an additional amount of over VND220 million by falsely reporting torn banknotes at a volume that was higher than the actual amount.

Vu’s family later returned all the money – around $100,000 – he had appropriated.

Japan offers Vietnam US$4.3 mln in developing human resources

Japan has agreed on Vietnam’s human resource development scholarship project worth JPY343 million (equal to US$4.3 million) within the framework of non-refundable assistance cooperation between the two countries.

The diplomatic note was signed in Hanoi on July 25 by charge d’affaires of the Japanese Embassy in Vietnam Hideo Suzuki and Vietnamese Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan.

At the signing ceremony, Hideo Suzuki expressed hope that scholarship winners will study well to become a driving force behind Vietnam’s socio-economic development.

The newly-approved project aims to create opportunities for young administrative staff to do MAs in Japan.

The Japanese Government has so far developed many projects for Vietnamese students to study in Japan and take part in managing Vietnam-Japan Human Resources Cooperation Centre (VJCC), as well as improving information technology (IT) abilities at Hanoi University of Science and Technology.

Over the years, as many as 300 Vietnamese students have benefited from similar projects to study and work in different fields such as administration, economics and research.

VN marine police launch Casa-212 aircraft fleet

Vietnam Marine Police has launched a fleet of Casa-212 aircraft to monitor vessels in coastal areas, detect oil spills and coordinate rescue activities.

The launch was announced at a debut ceremony for the fleet held yesterday, July 24, at the office of the Military Transport Flying Regiment 918 under Vietnam’s Air and Air Defense Force.

The Casa-212 aircraft is the latest version of the C212 model manufactured by Airbus. The plane accommodates a crew of three and can be used for long patrol journeys.

A Casa-212 is 16.1 meters long, 6.5 meters tall, and has a wingspan of 20.2 meters. The plane can fly at a maximum speed of 360 kph, with a range of 1,800 km.

The plane is also equipped with a MSS-6000 airborne maritime surveillance system which is made in Sweden.

The core of the MSS-6000 is a mission management system that links all available information together and presents a situation overview to the operator for interpretation and further action. The mission management system is based on GIS (Geographical Information System) technology, and the available information is presented against a backdrop of a digital nautical chart.

The Casa-212 can operate during the day and at night and in all weather conditions. It can take off and land at makeshift airports with short, narrow runways.

Equipped with two propeller turbine engines, the aircraft can fly at very low altitude, making it ideal for patrolling and identifying vessels at sea, spotting oil spills, and conducting rescue missions.

New Zealand, VN set date for Working Holiday Scheme

The New Zealand Embassy and the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs have announced that the bilateral Arrangement to establish a Working Holiday Scheme - Vietnam’s first such Scheme with any other country - will enter into effect on July 31.

According to the embassy in Vietnam, the arrangement will open up valuable opportunities each year for up to 100 young people from each country to holiday in the other country for up to 12 months to gain exposure to foreign languages, cultures and values, while being allowed to take up temporary employment to supplement their travel funds and enrol in short-term training or study courses.

Young people aged 18-30 from both New Zealand and Vietnam who wish to participate in the scheme will be able to apply from July 31.

The launch of the scheme further boosts the recent strong growth in the relationship between New Zealand and Vietnam . It is expected that the scheme will help to broaden people-to-people linkages and contribute to two way bilateral linkages in areas such as tourism and education.

To mark the launch of the scheme, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and the New Zealand Embassy will co-organise a workshop on July 31 to increase the awareness and understanding of interested parties about the scheme.

This will be followed by a bilateral exchange of diplomatic notes to confirm that each side has completed its legal requirements necessary for the Working Holiday Scheme Arrangement’s entry into effect.

VNN/VOV/Tuoi Tre