The central Nghe An Province People’s Court on Friday sentenced six people up to 11 years in prison on charges of storing, transporting and circulating counterfeit money. The highest sentence was handed down on Tran Thi Tuyet, 41, of Nghe An, while Duong Thi Thuy, 47, of Lang Son Province, Pham Van Lieu, 44, of Nghe An, and Pham Ngoc Lam, 55,  also of Nghe An, were sentenced to 10, eight and six years in prison respectively.  The remaining two defendants, Tran Thi Thu, 43, and Nguyen Thi Thanh, 52 – both of Nghe An – were given sentences of three and two years in suspension. Police in Nghe An arrested Lam on January 23, 2013 after catching him carrying fake money totaling VND88.5 million (US$4,175) in Nghe An's Tan Ky District. Lam told police that he had received the money from Tuyet. After detaining Tuyet, police continued to seize the four other members of the ring,  based on the testimonies of Lam and Tuyet.

According to the indictment, Thuy was the supplier of fake money transported from China into Vietnam. After receiving counterfeit money from Thuy, Tuyet distributed it to Lam who would use the fake money to buy goods in other provinces. Tuyet and Lam said they had spent fake money totaling VND137.8 million on purchasing of various goods. Tuyet also used VND49.5 million worth of fake money to repay her debts to Lieu, Thanh and Thu. A short time after receiving the amount from Tuyet, all the three people knew the money is fake but they continued to keep and use it.