Abdul Aziz and Jahanbakhsh Ghiasi took advantage of foreign tourists coming to Vietnam who did not understand the law, both pretending to be Interpol to threaten and appropriate property.
At noon on March 18, talking to PV VietNamNet, a leader of the Hoan Kiem District Police (Hanoi) said that they had temporarily detained and prosecuted the case against Abdul Aziz (born 1969, Pakistani nationality) and Jahanbakhsh. Ghiasi (born 1974, Iranian nationality), to investigate property theft.
Police determined that at around 12:30 on March 12, the Hang Trong Ward Police Working Group (Hoan Kiem District) patrolling, controlling, and preventing crime discovered two men in the Hang Thiec street area. Foreigners riding motorbikes with registration number: 29S6 – 196.XX have suspicious signs and should be monitored.
Arriving in front of number 43 Hang Thiec, the person sitting behind got out of the car, stopped a foreign tourist, and held up a hard card. Immediately after that, the tourist took his passport and wallet and showed them to the subject.
Mr. Abdul Aziz works with the police agency. Photo: D. Labour.
Seeing this, the police immediately stopped and requested administrative inspection of the subjects. After that, the authorities invited 3 people to work headquarters. The male tourist whose passport and wallet were taken by him is Mr. Mohammad Iftakhar Hossian Khan (born 1978, Bangladeshi nationality).
Working with the police, Mr. Mohammad said that while walking on Hang Thiec Street, he was stopped by a subject, holding up a “POLICE” card, communicating in English and calling himself Interpol.
At that time, the subject asked Mr. Mohammad to give him his passport and wallet for inspection. Because he was abroad, did not understand the law and was worried and scared, he gave all his documents and assets to someone claiming to be the international criminal police.
Subject Ghiasi confessed at the police station. Photo: D. Labour.
The incident was discovered and promptly stopped by Hang Trong Ward Police. Hang Trong ward police clarified that the two suspects suspected of appropriating property were Abdul Aziz and Jahanbakhsh Ghiasi. Checking Ghiasi, the police confiscated a London (UK) “POLICE” card with the name and photo of Abdul Aziz.
Aziz confessed that the subject made this card in Bangkok, Thailand for 500 Baht, to threaten foreign tourists and then appropriate their property.
Meanwhile, Ghiasi declared that with the above trick, at around 12:20 on March 11, the two stopped an Indian male tourist at 13 Hang Gai, Hoan Kiem, holding up the “POLICE” card, claiming to be Interpol. Ask tourists to show their passports and wallets for inspection.
Fake “POLICE” card in Aziz’s name. Photo: D. Labour.
Ghiasi appropriated 10 million VND, including 20 Vietnamese banknotes with a face value of 500,000 VND. Ghiasi then chased the Indian tourist away and got in the car with Abdul Aziz and left. Ghiasi gave Abdul Aziz 4 million VND and kept 6 million VND for himself for personal use.
The police reviewed and identified the Indian tourist whose property was appropriated by subjects as Mr. Pradhap Kakkappan (born 1998) and invited him to work. Comparing the images, Mr. Pradhap realized that Ghiasi was the person who appropriated his money.
Hoan Kiem Police continue to coordinate with relevant units of Hanoi Police to expand and consolidate documents to handle subjects according to Vietnamese Law.