>> Investigators make largest petrol skimming bust yet
Hanoi Police arrested the owner of a petrol station caught in Vietnam’s biggest petrol rip offs to date. Nguyen The Loc, owner of the petrol station, was skimming customers using an advanced computer system.
Arrest warrant for Nguyen The Loc
As DTiNews previously reported, investigators uncovered the scam on July 27. The petrol station was shorting customers by 0.75 litres of petrol for every 10 sold.
At 5.30pm on July 28, a warrant was issued for the arrest of Nguyen The Loc although formal charges have not yet been pressed. He is suspected of installing an electronic chip which controls the amount of petrol sold to customers, allowing his company to skim customers for a profit.
Police are finalising their report so that charges can be pursued.
Loc has admitted to his crime but claimed that he did not know about computers or how the electronic chip worked. He said a man in Dong Anh District of Hanoi sold him the chip for VND9 million ($467).
Senior Lieutenant Colonel Dinh Cao Thanh, Vice Director of the Police Department of Criminal Investigation on Economic Management Order and Positions (coded PC46) said, “According to the initial testimony of Loc, about 6,000 litres of petrol pumped from the fuel dispenser with the chip was sold per day on average.”
Loc’s company pocketed over VND200 million ($10,389) per month.
Police also issued a notice requesting organisations and individuals that bought petrol at this station in the past to provide the police relevant evidence and information.
Phan Quoc Cuong living at Hamlet 6A, Co Nhue Commune told police, “I bought petrol here only once but I found something wrong so I never bought again. Many people in my hamlet were cheated here.”
The petrol station tells customers to check the amount of petrol they bought
The chip was put into the electrical circuits
Investigators check the petrol pump
A notice requesting people to provide police with more information
Many people had complaints for the police