Hanoi - Vietnamese police have extradited 59 Chinese and Taiwanese nationals suspected of running an international telephone scam, an official said on Friday.
The suspects were handed over to their respective police forces on Thursday and Friday, said Colonel Pham Van Hoa, director of Phu Yen Province Police Department. “They are banned from re-entering Vietnam for five years.”
They were each fined 20 million dong (nearly $1 000) before being extradited, Hoa said. Interpol had cooperated with the case, he added.
As they allegedly targeted only Chinese-speaking victims outside Vietnam, the suspects would not be tried under Vietnamese law, Hoa said.
The gang, 28 Chinese and 31 Taiwanese nationals, reportedly impersonated customs and tax officials to telephone their victims, telling them their accounts had been hacked and they should transfer their money into a supposed police account, which was fake.
They targeted Chinese communities in the United States, Australia, South Korea and Hong Kong.
Vietnamese police said the suspects had defrauded their victims of a total of $78 300 in recent days.
Three locals who acted as interpreters for the gang's local logistics were also arrested but fined and released.
It is the sixth case of its kind reported in Vietnam. In July, police arrested 56 Taiwanese and Chinese nationals for telephone fraud. - Sapa-dpa