The winner of a Vietnamese beauty pageant organized in Moscow some years ago has been detained for allegedly conning a businessman out of almost US$750,000.

>> An audio version of the story is available here

Police in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday apprehended Truong Ho Phuong Nga, 28, for swindling.

Nga was crowned at a pageant held for Vietnamese beauties in Moscow in 2007.

According to police officers, during her stay in Ho Chi Minh City, she got to know H., a businessman who lives in District 7.

Nga talked H. into giving her VND5.6 billion ($260,975) to purchase a house in District 5 at a cheaper price than those offered on the local market by taking advantage of her wide business circles.   After a while, the beauty told H. that the transaction did not proceed as expected.

However, Nga managed to persuade H. that she would continue to look for another house at a cheap price.

H. continued to buy into the beauty’s words and repeatedly gave her more money, which totaled over VND16 billion ($745,643.)

Last year, seeing that Nga could not buy him a house, H. reported the issue to police.

The local police launched their investigation into Nga in mid-March 2015, before placing her in custody yesterday.

At 11, Nga moved with her family to Russia, where she grew up and enrolled in a university in Moscow, media reports said.

Ten years later, she returned home and embarked on an artistic career as a model and actress.

She has starred in several films and music videos shot in Vietnam.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!