Vietnam arrests 2 Chinese in $400,000 fake gold scam
Police in southern Vietnam have arrested two of the five Chinese suspects who allegedly cheated a local gold shop out of VND10 billion (US$445,000) with 58 ounces of fake gold.
Officers in Tay Ninh Province on December 4 said they caught Ye TianJin, 31, and Ye Guorong, 48, when they were trying to flee to Cambodia.
They said the duo was among a group of five behind a scam on December 2 at the biggest gold shop in Dong Nai Province, around 180 kilometers from Tay Ninh.
The five carried 25 bags containing small particles which they described as gold.
People at the shop, who have done two small transactions successfully with the Chinese, took one bag for testing and the result confirmed it was gold.
Then they spent hours negotiating with the Chinese before agreeing on a price of VND10 billion for the whole package, which weighed 58 ounces.
After the Chinese left that the shop owners did more tests, only to find out what's inside the remaining bags was not gold and informed the police.
The arrested men said they received a cut of more than US$9,000 from the scam, and that the other three had left Vietnam.
Police in Quang Ninh Province in northern Vietnam last October also arrested two men for selling fake gold to shops in the province, as well as the nearby Hai Phong and Hanoi.
The men said they bought pieces of metal with a 30% gold content from a Chinese.