A court in Vietnam’s Da Nang city has wrapped up a three-day trial of 24 defendants accused of faking documents to bring in South Korean “experts” and “investors.”
The 24, including 18 company directors, were sentenced to between nine months of probation and 10 years in prison, according to the Public Security News website.
The scheme was masterminded by Lee Kwan Young, the vice chairman of the Central Korean Association and director of Eyelux Co. Ltd., who allegedly persuaded 26 companies to issue documents allowing 92 South Korean nationals to enter the country illegally.
The court heard that Lee’s accomplice Seo Yong Jin, the director of Mai KT Co. Ltd., organized four flights from South Korea to bring 97 illegal immigrants into the country.
The scam earned them the equivalent of U.S.$46,000.
The two long-term residents of Da Nang received 10-year prison terms.
The South Korean ringleaders had help from 13 directors of Vietnamese companies, five heads of South Korean firms and three people at visa services who forged seals and documents.
Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Mike Firn.