[meteorite-list] Fake Meteorite Sale

From: Pete Pete <rsvp321_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 26 Dec 2011 11:11:51 -0500
Message-ID: <BAY153-W51AB2A895A4AD7AFD81877F8AE0_at_phx.gbl>

Thieves on ebay - take note!



http://www.tuoitrenews.vn/cmlink/tuoitrenews/society/man-seized-for-selling-fake-meteorite-for-95-000-1.56065
http://www.tuoitrenews.vn/cmlink/tuoitrenews/society/man-seized-for-selling-fake-meteorite-for-95-000-1.56065



Man seized for selling fake meteorite for $95,000


Police in District 12, Ho Chi Minh City have detained a man who cheated a woman by selling her a false meteorite for VND2 billion (US$95,000) three months ago.

Vo Quang Truc, 45, of District 6, was arrested last Friday in Kien Giang Province, after his victim, Nguyen Ngoc Lan, 39, of District 12, reported the scam to police.

Lan told the police that one day in September, Truc and a few associates unexpectedly came to her rented house in Hiep Thanh 2 Ward and said they had bought a meteorite for VND4 billion and were seeking someone to whom they could sell the valuable rock.

They also had Lan look for a buyer for them, and promised to reward her for her help after they sold the rock.

A friend of Truc later contacted Lan and told her that he wanted to sell a meteorite for VND2 billion.

After conceiving a plan buy it and then resell it for a huge profit, Lan phoned Truc and asked him to go along with her to have a look at the meteorite.

After the seller ? one of Truc?s mates ? showed Lan a piece of strange rock that he took out form a safe, Truc pretended to examine it carefully and then confirmed that it was a genuine meteorite.

Lan then paid the dealer VND2 billion and took the stone home.

She later had the stone verified by experts in precious stones and was told what she had bought was just a piece of normal stone.

The district police launched an investigation following Lan?s report, and they recently received a tip that Truc was temporarily living in Kien Giang Province.

On December 23rd, the police coordinated with their counterparts in the province?s Chau Thanh District and seized Truc.

Truc pleaded guilty of cheating Lan, and said he was given VND400 million ($19,000) from the amount Lan had paid to his gang, and he had spent all of it.

The police are hunting for Truc?s accomplices
Received on Mon 26 Dec 2011 11:11:51 AM PST