The HCM City police have detained restaurant owner Tran Tuan Minh, 22, for allegedly misappropriating nearly VNĐ700 million (US$31,100) from an Australian.
The bank receipt shows that the Nightfall restaurant staff swiped the victim’s cards eight times and withdrew VNĐ700 million.
Minh, director of HCM-based Nightfall Restaurant One Member Ltd., has been accused of using digital equipment to misappropriate properties, local media reported.
The incident reportedly took place on August 10, 2016, when Australian national Caracciolo David John, 45, and a group of friends visited Minh’s restaurant on Nguyen Sieu Street in District 1, and had dinner and played bar billiards.
John used two cards – a Visa and a Master – from two Australian banks to pay the bill, which came to VNĐ20 million (US$890).
However, several days later, after returning to Australia, John discovered that AU$39,429 (VNĐ700 million/US$31,100) had been withdrawn from his accounts.
Investigations revealed that John had paid the restaurant AU$150 and VNĐ2 million (US$89) in cash, and the remaining amount using the two cards.
Minh allegedly got his staff to swipe the cards several times and withdraw more money than John’s bill amount. The next day, he visited the bank and withdrew the money. On his instructions, the staff blamed the point of sale (POS) machine, claiming it was not working properly, for misappropriation of nearly VNĐ700 million.
The suspect told investigators that he wanted to return the money to John, after which John’s representative withdrew the accusation report and decided not to file for criminal penalty.
However, the police said Minh’s action was extremely serious and affected the image of the country’s tourism sector, thus further investigation was needed to determine who else was involved.
VNS