Man probed for pandemic repatriation scam

Ho Son Tung, 30, is being investigated for "obtaining property by fraud", police said Saturday.

Last year, when the Covid-19 pandemic was raging across the globe, many Vietnamese citizens abroad wanted to return to their home country despite limited supply of repatriation flights.

Tuan used a Facebook account, masqueraded as someone who had managed to return to Vietnam on a repatriation flight, and offered to help others.

When people contacted him, Tung used a fake Vietnamese embassy email to request money from people so he could buy them flight tickets.

From March 2021 to April 2022, Tung has tricked 20 people successfully. Investigation revealed that two among the victims were robbed of VND147 million ($6,418).

Since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, Vietnam has organized around 400 repatriation flights and brought back over 70,000 citizens from over 60 countries and territories. Many people had to buy very expensive tickets and underwent troublesome procedures for a flight home.

Some top Vietnamese diplomatic officials including deputy foreign affairs minister To Anh Dung have been arrested over allegations of taking bribes in organizing these flights.