A 55-year-old Georgian man has been arrested for allegedly appropriating nearly US$30,000 from a gold shop in Hai Phong City, northern Vietnam.

The Hai Phong Police on Saturday informed the arrest of the foreigner.

In particular, at 6:00 pm on February 27, P.D.D., a 24-year-old resident in Dong Hai Ward, Le Chan District, Hai Phong City, reported to the Le Chan District Police that he lost $30,000 to a foreign man.

He said that at about 5:40 pm on the same day, the foreign man arrived at his gold shop at 96D Cho Hang Street in Dong Hai Ward to exchange Vietnamese banknotes for U.S. dollars totaling $30,000.

The foreigner could not speak Vietnamese, so he used Google Translate for communication.

After receiving $30,000 from D., the foreigner put the money into three envelopes.

Each envelope had a small plastic square through which they could look inside the envelopes.

When D. did not pay attention to the envelopes, the foreign man exchanged the three envelopes with three similar items containing a $100 banknote each.

He put the envelopes into a yellow leather bag and gave it to D., reasoning that he did not bring enough Vietnamese banknotes. He added that he would go home to fetch more Vietnamese banknotes and return to the gold shop.

After he left, D.’s family members checked the bag and found that the envelopes contained a $10 banknote and paper each.

After appropriating D.’s money, the Georgian man and Gurtskaia Roman, another 47-year-old Georgian, arrived at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi to flee to Ho Chi Minh City and then Cambodia.

During their journey, they repeatedly changed means of transport to put the police off the scent.

However, the Hai Phong Police cooperated with the security force at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City and the Ho Chi Minh City Police to track them.

At 0:15 am on February 28, the two Georgian citizens were arrested as soon as they landed at Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

The two were later taken to Hai Phong City. The police also confiscated the money and other exhibits.

Sordia Gia was prosecuted on charges of swindling to appropriate assets.

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