Vietnam Prosecutes 11 Over False Inspection Certificates for Smuggled Goods

Vietnam is prosecuting 11 Dai Minh Viet Inspection Co. executives and employees for submitting over 1,200 fraudulent certificates of inspection of imported goods used to allegedly smuggle 1,282 containers of second-hand machinery and equipment from Japan and Taiwan, the state-run CustomsNews reported April 17. The alleged scheme was discovered by the Saigon Port Zone 1 Customs Branch and the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department's Economic Policy Division, CustomsNews said. During the investigation, the police agency determined that Hoang Duy Tien, an officer of the Anti-Smuggling Team under the Economic Police Department of the HCM City Public Security, was the mastermind who established dozens of legal entities, named on customs declarations to import used goods to Vietnam.