Re: Arrests Made in Fake Remains & Effects Scam

Date: June 18, 2004

"Two Vietnamese Nabbed for Faking U.S. MIA Remains 

HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnamese police have arrested two people over a scam that involved faking the remains of U.S. servicemen missing in action, state media reported on Friday.

The Lao Dong (Labour) newspaper said police in the southern province of Dong Nai arrested Vong Van Tinh, 72, and Hoang Thi Hoa, 47, earlier this month for organizing the scheme.

The newspaper, without giving a source for the information, said the pair had believed that offering the fake remains would earn them the right to settle in the United States.

Officials involved in MIA recoveries say bounty hunters believe they will get a cash reward or passage to America for the finds. "There's a lot of bad information out there," one official said.

It was not clear what the fraudulent items consisted of, but most recovered MIA remains from the Vietnam War that ended in 1975 are tiny bone fragments and personal effects such as dog tags.

The paper said police raided Hoa's house and seized 89 sets of fake items packed in 42 boxes.

It said the two, who are residents in the provincial capital city of Bien Hoa, north of Ho Chi Minh City, also had documents that faked the stamp and signature of the U.S. MIA mission in Vietnam.

Police in Dong Nai declined comment. Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Smith, commander of the U.S. MIA office in Hanoi, said he had not been informed of the case but that his staff received "at least one" claim of MIA findings each week.

"We take all of them (the claims) seriously," he said.

More than 1,800 American servicemen remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia after the northern communists' victory over U.S.-backed South Vietnam. Since 1973, over 700 sets of U.S. remains have been recovered and identified.

About 300,000 Vietnamese are missing from the conflict that Vietnam calls the "American War." (Additional reporting by Christina Toh-Pantin in Hanoi)

© 2003 Reuters Limited"