A Vietnamese court has sent a former magazine deputy editor to prison for posing as a government official and cheating some businesspeople of nearly US$426,000.
The Hanoi People’s Court Wednesday sentenced Nguyen Trong Giac, formerly of Thi Truong Gia Ca (market & price) magazine, to 11 years and his accomplices, Dao Huu Nghi and Nguyen Duc Loi, to 14 and 12 years.
Giac, 55 pretended to be deputy head of the Government Pricing Committee and Nghi and Loi to be members.
They told businesses looking for funds that the committee would assess the feasibility of their projects to see if they qualified for loans.
The trio then asked the businesses to pay for "expenses" if they wanted to get the loans and pocketed nearly $426,000.
The Thi Truong Gia Ca magazine belongs to the Ministry of Finance.
Reported by N.V.C - Translated by T.H.
