A court in Ho Chi Minh City Tuesday handed down life sentences to three people for storing and circulating counterfeit money.

 

According to the hearing held this week by the HCMC People’s Court, in December 2008, Vu Van Nghiem, 33, and Nguyen Van Khuyen, 28, together with two others contributed money to buy fake notes in China.

 

They exchanged VND62 million (US$2,990) for Chinese currency and then bought Vietnamese fake notes worth VND600 million (US$28,943). They were all VND200,000-notes.

 

Later the group transported the notes to HCMC to sell to 27-year-old Hoang Thi Ha, Nghiem’s cousin. They agreed to exchange every VND10 million fake notes for VND3.2 million.

 

Ha and his accomplices consumed VND70 million counterfeit money before the ring was busted early 2009.

 

Ten other members of the ring received jail terms ranging from one year and a month to 18 years.