Nguyen Ayi

NewsOpinionReal Estate Crash
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Alibaba Fraud Not Unique

Posted byNguyen Ayi


By Joe Fotalattee

Alibaba Fraud Not Unique

Over 4,000 people lost money and accrued debt by investing in projects run by Ho Chi Minh City-based real estate developer Alibaba. These pie-in-the-sky development opportunities turned out to exist only on paper.

At the hearing on Monday, 300 victims attended and some testified to the false promises made and illegal land deals. It was one of several sessions that the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court will hold until January to hear from the more than 4,000 victims of Alibaba, according to a report by VNExpress.

Nguyen Thai Luyen founded the HCMC-based business in 2016 and also formed 22 subsidiaries to invest in 58 projects in the provinces of Dong Nai, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, and Binh Thuan. The projects were all falsely advertised to customers and illegally laid out on agricultural land.

Investigators were able to get in touch with 4,065 of the customers who had invested VND2.1 trillion after Luyen instructed his staff to illegally collect nearly VND2.4 trillion from 4,560 clients.

Why This Case Is Important To The Beat Community:

As foreigners are not legally allowed to purchase land, many of those cases go unreported to authorities. Common tactics by fraudsters include selling a single plot to multiple investors and delaying red books or returns by using false promises of new roads, bridges, and infrastructure to lure more money out of unscrupulous investors.

Other tactics include agents returning the original investment after years of collecting interest or turning profits on a separate legitimate transaction. The agent will claim government problems with the investor’s particular land deal, and the buyer is often satisfied with recouping a fraction of the original amount.

Foreigners are also hesitant to report cases closer to home, involving friends or family members’ land they will inevitably … Read more

News
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Editor-in-Chief of Vietnam Law Newspaper Stripped Of Press Credentials

Posted byNguyen Ayi

Editor-in-Chief of Vietnam Law Newspaper Stripped Of Press Credentials

By Joe Fotalattee

The Ministry of Information and Communications has decided to revoke the journalist’s card of Mr. Dao Van Hoi, editor-in-chief of Law Vietnam newspaper. The journalist’s card for the 2021-2025 term is no longer valid.

According to Tuoi Tre, The Inspector of the Ministry of Information and Communications sanctioned the Vietnam Law Newspaper for 13 violations, suspended the publication for 3 months and issued a 325 million VND fine. Previously in June 2022, the Ministry of Justice issued a decision on disciplinary action against Mr. Dao Van Hoi for “failing to properly perform the duties and responsibilities of the head”.

The Ministry of Information and Communications assessed that the Vietnamese Law Newspaper violated journalism ethics in content, licenses, advertising, and in false articles causing serious defamation.

The Inspectorate of the Ministry of Information and Communications has requested the newspaper’s governing body to strictly abide by the contents of the inspection and take measures to rectify administrative violations. 

The Ministry Inspector also decided to revoke the right to use license number 303/GP-BTTTT issued by the Ministry of Information and Communications for three months.

 

Arts and Culture
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Saigon Opera House Christmas Festival On December 16 and 17

Posted byNguyen Ayi

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by Joe Fotalattee

The Ho Chi Minh City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO) announced that a Christmas concert would take place at the Saigon Opera House on December 16 and 17.

Conductor Tran Nhat Minh, who received training in Russia and Italy, will direct the performance and serves as the HBSO chorus master. Vietnamese performers Pham Khanh Ngoc, Dao Mac, and Duyen Nguyet will perform alongside the symphony orchestra and choir of the HBSO and the children’s choir from the Republic of Korea.

Ticket prices vary depending on seating location: 1.000.000 – 850.000 – 700.000 – 550.000  (150.000VNĐ For students only).

The concerts begin at 8pm.

The Schedule: 

  • Leroy Anderson, an American light music composer who lived from 1908 to 1975, is scheduled to open the Christmas concert with his well-known orchestral composition Christmas Festival.
  • International vocal competition winner Pham Khanh Ngoc will perform Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate. Then, the chorus “For Unto Us a Child is Born” from Handel’s Messiah.
  • Soprano soloist Duyen Nguyet will belt out Max Reger’s German Christmas song Maria Wiegenlied.
  • Dao Mac, a baritone who has performed in a variety of roles for the HBSO operas, including Papageno in The Magic Flute and Doctor Falk in Die Fledermaus, will then perform a Christmas Scherzo by American arranger and keyboardist Don Sebesky and O Holy Night.
  • Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride, played by the solo orchestra, will be followed by the HBSO chorus performing Variations on Jingle Bells.
  • For a finale, a group of Korean children who live in Ho Chi Minh City will then perform on stage while singing holiday songs from the movie Home Alone and Santa Claus is Coming to Town.

 

Travel
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China Kills Tracking App And Eases Covid Travel Restrictions

Posted byNguyen Ayi

by Joe Fotalattee

In the latest easing of some of the strictest anti-virus regulations in the world, people in China celebrated the withdrawal on Tuesday of a state-mandated app used to track whether they had traveled to COVID-affected areas.

In response to widespread protests against the restrictions last month, which was the largest display of public unhappiness in mainland China since President Xi Jinping took office in 2012, China began to eliminate components of its strict “zero-COVID” regime.

Further action included removing the requirement for testing before many public events, restricting quarantine, and shutting down an app called “itinerary code”. Critics worried “Itinerary Code” app could be used for widespread surveillance and societal control of the populace.

Crime
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Sentenced To 220,903,200 Smooth Seconds

Posted byNguyen Ayi

Once Crowned Miss Vietnam In the USA in 2018, Ly Ky Anh now faces a seven-year prison sentence for theft of an 80,000 USD Rolex.

by Joe Fotalattee

On the morning of December 13, the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City sentenced La Ky Anh (32 years old) for theft of property. After an hour of trial and deliberation, the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City sentenced defendant La Ky Anh to 7 years in prison according to reports from the Vietnamese language site Tuoi Tre.

In court, defendant Ky Anh said that there was a love relationship between the defendant and the victim. Ky Anh said that before being arrested, her agency imported and exported goods from Guangzhou to Vietnam, so she had a stable source of income.
The representative of the People’s Procuracy of Ho Chi Minh City said that the defendant took advantage of the victim, the defendant’s behavior was dangerous, and asked the court to pronounce a sentence of 12-13 years in prison for theft.

“The criminal act, the defendant has nothing to deny, but after being detained for a long time, the defendant is very remorseful and asks the jury to grant the defendant a lenient sentence so that she can rebuild her life”, Defendant Ky Anh testified.
The court considered Ky Anh’s first-time offender status and the fact that the victim received the property back and dismissed the complaint. Therefore, the jury sentenced La Ky Anh to 7 years in prison for the crime of property theft.

According to the indictment, from July 2021, La Ky Anh and Nguyen Minh Tan knew each other and often contacted each other via Facebook. By early August 2021, she often went to Mr. Tan’s house in Vo Thi Sau ward (District 3) and slept … Read more

Finance
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The Crypto Collapse Is In Its Early Days

Posted byNguyen Ayi

The Crypto Collapse Is In Its Early Days

By academic Joe Fotalattee

Media outlets have a duty to their audience to be open and honest about the realities of the crypto Ponzi scheme.

Since reaching an all-time high last year, the most well-known and established cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, has declined by more than 70%.

Due to the demise of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, cryptocurrencies suffered a significant loss. When FTX was at its peak, its founder was one of the ten youngest billionaires in the world. It has now dramatically destroyed investor wealth as it imploded into bankruptcy.

Crypto lacks any organizing structure or tangible products. Cryptocurrency demand had reached a fever pitch, perhaps evoking memories of the tulip bulb craze. That bubble is now bursting.

In the middle of the sixteenth century, Dutch tulip bulbs sold for six times the average person’s yearly salary. It seems unbelievable now that anyone would have paid that much for a single tulip bulb. But at the time, market speculators controlled the price, and tulips’ worth was determined more by sentiment and rumors than by the flowers themselves.

Better Investments:

  • In Vietnam, savings accounts can produce 7%. It is insane to gamble with your hard-earned money when interest rates in savings accounts are as high as good investment returns.
  • E-Wallets based on currency: The Golden Pocket of Momo offers 6% up to 100 million VND, and is linked to a real bank account.
  •  Index funds on foreign stock markets
  • Gold/Silver: precious metals do well in currency crisis
  • Savings accounts with foreign banks like Shinhan, Citi Bank, and HSBC provide more security if the local banking system encounters difficulties. There will be some closures of small Vietnamese banks if there is a financial crisis.
  • Cashews or Tulips: at least they are edible. Cryptocurrency has no
… Read more
New BriefsNews
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News Briefs: Monday, December 12, 2022

Posted byNguyen Ayi

by Joe Fotalattee

Boy Drowned

On Sunday in Phu Yen Province in central Vietnam, a 16-year-old boy drowned while swimming in a stream with friends. Rescuers found N.T.D., 16, of Tuy Hoa City, an hour earlier and handed his body over to his family at 5:30 pm the same day.

The group of six friends—five boys and one girl—visited the Dap Han stream, a popular tourist destination in Dong Hoa Town.

D. later joined the boys for a swim in the stream before he drowned in the cold water. The three friends attempted to drag D. to the shore, but were unable to overcome the currents.

Boy Dead 

A woman from Hanoi was detained on suspicion of killing her six-year-old son by hitting him in the head with a metal ladle. Nguyen Thanh Thi, 37, was detained on suspicion of murder on Saturday, according to the People’s Procuracy in Quoc Oai District, Hanoi.

Officers started a death investigation after learning that the boy had multiple injuries to his body and face, according to the report.

Prisoner Recaptured

A 32-year-old prisoner who had been sentenced to seven years in prison for purposefully injuring others was apprehended by police in north-central Thanh Hoa Province on Sunday afternoon after he had escaped the facility the previous day.

Designer Snag

On Sunday, police in Ho Chi Minh City announced that they had worked successfully with counterparts to apprehend five suspects who had stolen over 3,000 designer bags worth more than VND600 million (US$25,450) from a warehouse at Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

Early Coffee Harvest

According to Nguyen Nam Hai, the head of the country’s coffee association, farmers in Vietnam, the largest producer of robusta coffee in the world, had already harvested about 40% of the 2022–23 crop as of early December despite worries … Read more