Zambian Arrested for Complex Bank Fraud
Vietnam police have arrested a Zambian national who used bogus identity papers in a scheme to defraud local banks.
Musasa Paul, 32, was detained in Hanoi for illegally withdrawing EUR35,000 and USUS$13,200 from his account at the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank).
The Zambian national forged stamps of the Vietnamese Embassy in South Africa to grant himself an entrance visa and receive immigration stamps issued by the Noi Bai International Airport, said investigators.
Paul used eight bogus passports bearing different names to open accounts at four Hanoi banks, including Vietcombank.
With the forged passports, Paul managed to draw out money transferred to his Vietcombank bank account from abroad.
But Vietcombank could not track him down when the foreign account which sent the money contacted the bank to have the money returned.
The trickster had arrived in Vietnam in August, and was subsequently arrested on October 18 at the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), where he was laying the groundwork to pull the scam again.
Vietcombank reported another similar case with the withdrawal of USUS$30,000 and VND51.2 million (US$3,220), but the bank has yet to track down the real account holder.
Currently, Vietnamese police are collaborating with Interpol to identify those who sent the money to the accounts.
Thanh Nien Daily
Vietnamese
