Toyota salesman arrested for $250,000 fraud
Hanoi police have arrested a car salesman for swindling customers out of US$250,400 in deposits.
Thirty-one-year-old Do Trong Hai disappeared Wednesday after taking the deposits worth some VND4 billion and issuing receipts and sale contracts to at least 21 customers, according to police.
The clients only learned that he had fled on Thursday and Friday when they complained at his company, Toyota Giai Phong Joint Stock Co., that their cars had yet to be delivered, said investigators.
The company said in a statement Friday that it was not responsible for Hai’s fraud.
Receiving such deposits was against company policy, said Toyota Giai Phong.
Tran Xuan Thang, a victim, said that he gave Hai a VND320 million ($20,000) deposit for a Camry on January 29.
The next day, Thang came to the company to pay the remaining cost, but Hai had already flown the coup.
Thang said Toyota Giai Phong then refused to complete his transaction.
Another victim, Head of An Binh Tan Trade and Tourism Company Nguyen The Dung, said that he handed Hai VND150 million ($9,400) for an Innova on December 27 last year.
Hai told the customer that he should pay the rest once the car was available.
The next day Hai gave Dung a sale contract between Toyota Giai Phong and An Binh Tan Co. signed by Giai Phong sales manager Nguyen Lu Phong.
Dung returned to Toyota Giai Phong on January 25 as stipulated by the contract.
But the company said the money had yet to be transferred to the cashier’s desk and asked him to come back at the end of the month.
Upon returning to the dealership, Dung was unable to locate Hai.
Toyota Giai Phong said that it could not provide cars to the victims although some of them had sales contracts in hand.
The company said it was not responsible for the receipts Hai handed out.
At least thirteen people have complained to the police, asking them to investigate Hai and clarify Toyota Giai Phong’s role in the case.
Reported by Minh Quang
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