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People are on the walking street around the Hoàn Kiếm (Returned Sword) Lake in Hà Nội. Keeping public order along the street remains a difficult problem. — VNA/VNS Photo Quang Quyết Viet Nam News HÀ NỘI — Two years after the walking street around the iconic Hoàn Kiếm (Returned Sword) Lake was first introduced to the Hanoians, the place has become a top destination for families and friends to hang out on weekends. But not everyone is happy with how the walking street has become a commercial centre and, some say, a big mess. The so-called walking street in the centre Hoàn Kiếm District is actually not a single street but rather comprised of 16 streets that run around and adjacent to the lake – the heart of the capital. Local authorities roughly estimate that 5,000-7,000 people flock to the walking zone during the day on weekends, and as many as 20,000 turn out at night. The largest number of people ever recorded at one time in the area was 200,000. Accompanying the … [Read more...] about Walking street business boom frustrates walkers

Raid on traffic policeman nets money, football betting papers (16-12-2005) HA NOI — Papers dealing with football betting and VND500 million have been seized in a raid on the house of Ha Noi traffic policeman Bui Quang Hung, 27. The raid by Public Security Ministry investigators followed the arrest of 22 Ha Noi policemen for allegedly gambling in the city’s Bach Thao (Botanical Gardens). The investigators also recovered VND2.5 million from the site; the alleged offenders were supposed to have been attending a refresher course. More than 10 of the policemen were still in custody midweek. Some of the accused gamblers are reported to have had associations with a major football betting syndicate. — VNS … [Read more...] about Raid on traffic policeman nets money, football betting papers

NA deputies discuss money matters, bad debts and banks (19-06-2006) HA NOI — A number of issues relating to the banking sector were discussed in the National Assembly (NA) on Friday, when NA deputies put questions to Governor of the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) Le Duc Thuy and Trade Minister Truong Dinh Tuyen. Le Duc Thuy was asked about several matters relating to preventing money laundering, the quality of polymer notes, handling commercial banks’ bad debts and raising the Vietnamese banking system’s competitive edge. Deputy Neang Kim Cheng of An Giang Province asked the governor about the money laundering situation and appropriate efforts to curb this matter in Viet Nam. Thuy replied that money laundering was rife all over the world, including in Viet Nam, where the legal system and measures preventing the problems had not yet been developed. To carry out Viet Nam’s commitments agreed with international organisations and foreign countries, the Government … [Read more...] about NA deputies discuss money matters, bad debts and banks

City police charge three with smuggling jewellery, money (25-06-2008) HCM CITY — The HCM City police said on Monday it planned to charge three people with "illegally transporting goods and currencies out of the country". The three — Nguyen Xuan Hao, 31, a mechanic at Vietnam Airlines’ Enterprise A75, Dang To Hai, 37, a resident of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, and Le Trung Hieu, a driver at HCM City’s Flight Service Co. No. 919 — allegedly tried to smuggle out 1.54 kilograms of gold jewellery studded with gems. Hao was caught with the jewels climbing the steps of an aircraft at HCM City’s Tan Son Nhat Airport that was ready to leave for Russia in October 2006. Police said Hai had been asked by a Vietnamese-Russian named Thien to help smuggle jewels from Viet Nam to Russia by plane. Hai admitted he received the jewels placed in eight sealed cigarette packs. He then hired Hieu to hand over the packs to the pilot of the flight. Hieu received US$100 out of the $400 he was … [Read more...] about City police charge three with smuggling jewellery, money

VN joins Interpol on money laundering (11-12-2008) HA NOI — The State Bank of Viet Nam’s Anti-money Laundering Information Centre and the Ministry of Public Security’s Vietnam Interpol Office yesterday pledged to exchange information to counter money laundering in Ha Noi. At the signing ceremony, which was attended by representatives from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the two sides committed to exchanging information on the function, responsibilities and rights of organisations and agencies in the process of eliminating money laundering and other means of financial support for crime. The bank’s deputy governor, Tran Minh Tuan, said work on preventing and fighting money laundering and financial support for terror was the task of State authorised agencies. He added that it was an especially important task for the central bank, which is in charge of supervising doubtful banking transactions, and the Ministry of Public Security, which is responsible for … [Read more...] about VN joins Interpol on money laundering

MARRAKECH/VIENNA — Criminals, especially drug traffickers, may have laundered US$ 1.6 trillion, or 2.7 per cent of global GDP, in 2009, according to a new report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. According to the report, less than 1 per cent of the global flow of illicit money is being seized and frozen, due to difficulties in tracing the financial pattern of organised crime. The report, titled Estimating illicit financial flows resulting from drug trafficking and other transnational organised crime, supports the 2-5 per cent estimated range of global GDP set out by the International Monetary Fund to measure the scale of money laundering. "Tracking the flows of illicit funds generated by drug trafficking and organised crime and analysing how they are laundered through the world's financial systems remain daunting tasks," acknowledged Yury Fedotov, executive director of UNODC on Tuesday. Launching the report in Marrakech during the fourth session of the … [Read more...] about ‘Dirty-money’ trade hard to track