Vietnamese Busted For Money Laundering

...ATTEMPTING TO SMUGGLE IN SUSPECTED FAKE US 100 DOLLAR BILLS

At exactly the same time that the authorities are grappling with fake cedi notes, two Vietnamese have been caught attempting to smuggle almost half a million United States (US) dollars into the country, ostensibly to perform some Buddhist rituals for their dead colleagues.

Thirty-one-year-old Vietnamese, Mai Dug Hoang, who had the suspected fake currency notes amounting to US$450,000 (?3.9 billion) in his possession, arrived at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA), Accra, through Frankfurt, Germany, at 4:30 p.m. last Saturday, on board a Lufthansa flight, with registration number LH 564.

The suspected fake dollars found in Hoang's luggage were 45 bundles of hundred-dollar bills, Chronicle learnt.

"He told us that they use it to perform Buddhist death rituals and that a bundle or two are used during such rituals," said a BNI source.

The paper gathered that Hoang who was not good at the English language called in a compatriot of his, Lai Quoc Dung, 29, also a Vietnamese who was in Accra.


Dung, on arriving at KIA, confirmed the assertion that the suspected fake dollars was meant for him to use for rituals.


The two were arrested and paraded before an Accra circuit court last Monday.


They have been remanded in prison custody to reappear on May 21. They were charged under section 18 of the Currency Act 424 for possessing forged currency notes.


"We are investigating the case to establish what they have been doing in this country for the past two or more years that they came in," said the BNI source.

The suspects told the security agents that they had been in the country since 2000 to establish a textile factory but all their efforts to secure land for the project proved futile. They therefore started with a fabric shop at Adabraka, a suburb of Accra.


The investigators established that Hoang first came to Ghana on November 12, 1999, and secured a visitor's permit for 60 days.


It was also established that he currently has a resident permit dated May 5, 2003, and a visa of six journeys to Ghana within 12 months, starting from May 5 this year.


Interestingly enough, these documents in possession of the suspect took effect from a date he was not in the country.


Sources at the BNI say this is the first time such a suspected crime has been uncovered in the country.

In another development, two persons have appeared before the Mpraeso circuit court, presided over by Justice Kwamena Asuman-Adu, for allegedly possessing an amount of ?185,000 suspected to be fake currency notes, reports George Antwi from Nkawkaw.


The amount was in ?20,000 and ?5,000 denominations.


The suspects are Kwaku Manu, an 18-year-old footballer, and Kwabena Opare, a 30-year-old driver.


Prosecuting, Inspector Alex Gyamera Acheampong told the court that on April 19 this year, the footballer, who was enjoying the Easter festivities at Obomeng-Kwahu, gave a note out to one Kwabena Nyarko, a driver's mate, to change it into smaller denominations for him, which he did.


He said Nyarko took the 20,000-cedi note to purchase fuel at the Mpraeso GOIL filling station but the station attendant rejected it on the grounds that it was smaller than the normal 20,000-cedi note in circulation.

The attendant subsequently reported the mate to the police for his arrest. The prosecutor said during the investigation, the mate took the police to a house at Obomeng where Manu was arrested.


And after a thorough search was conducted a purse containing the ?185,000 was found and Manu mentioned Kwabena Opare as the owner of the money.


He told the court that Opare denied ownership of the money before the police but said he found the purse in the street.


The accused persons are on a ?20 million bail each while the suspected fake currency notes have been sent to the Bank of Ghana for examination.