Police in the southern Can Tho City are hunting down a man who offered to sell a bogus meteorite for US$40 million per kg and eventually succeeded in cheating his victim off VND3.1 billion (US$146,000). In fact, this is an old trick that has happened before in Vietnam. A wanted notice was issued on October 30 for Tran Van Phuong, aka “hairless head” Phuong, who, along with his co-conspirators, cheated at least two people whom they lured to buy a fake meteorite. The police previously arrested Nguyen Van Doan, 33, one of Phuong’s accomplices, of Kien Giang Province. According to the case file, in March 2013, Phuong, Doan and some others formed a gang to lure others to buy fake meteorites. Phuong then asked Nguyen Thi L, a wealthy woman of southern Binh Phuoc Province who is one of his acquaintances, to buy a meteorite from a man. Phuong promised that L can easily resell it for a whooping US$82 million per kg to pocket the fat difference.   L agreed to buy after seeing the ‘meteorite’ shown by the swindlers, who then asked her to pay deposits totalling VND3.1 billion (US$146,000) for the deal. After giving the money to Phuong, L failed to contact him and Doan. The victim later reported the case to police, who investigated and arrested Doan.

The wanted notice for Tran Van Phuong, aka “hairless head” Phuong

Police said they have also received an accusation from a man who said Phuong and Doan had cheated him of VND140 million by using the same trick. A similar case happened last year, when police in Ho Chi Minh City’s Binh Chanh District detained two men who cheated a woman by inducing her to buy a bogus meteorite for VND100 billion (US$4.7 million). Dang Ngoc Thanh, 44, and Tran Van Sinh, 47 were arrested on January 31, 2012 while they were waiting to show the rock to Nguyen Thi Ly, 47, from District 7, who had agreed to pay a deposit of VND100 million to them. In another case, police in District 12 also detained a man who cheated a woman by selling her a false meteorite for VND2 billion (US$95,000) in December 2011. After being convinced, the woman paid them the amount and took the stone home. She later had the stone verified by experts and was told that what she had bought was just a piece of normal rock.