Smuggler fights term in Vietnam
A JAILED Hong Kong businessman appears set to take on the Vietnamese justice system over his eight-year sentence for car smuggling.
British diplomats are trying to confirm reports that John Lam Hoi has been granted a rare second trial after serving nearly a year of his sentence in Ho Chi Minh City's toughest prison.
Lam, in his 50s, had earlier told British consulate staff that he had been set up, but felt he had no serious chance in any appeal.
He is the only Hong Kong prisoner left in the maximum security Chi Hoa prison, where another prisoner from the territory was executed seven months ago.
Lam is understood to be in good health, but frustrated by the justice system.
Diplomats are now requesting urgent visits to him.
Other Hong Kong businessmen among the emerging ethnic-Chinese business elite in the southern commercial hub are watching Lam's progress closely.
They fear his case marks a 'worst case scenario' should their own business dealings sour.
Lam was found guilty in April last year of smuggling several cars into Vietnam with business partner, overseas Vietnamese man Nguyen Van Bac .
Little detail is known of the trial, which British diplomats failed to attend after several postponements.
Local press reports at the time said the pair had used their Hong Kong firm Chary Trading Development Company to import the cars as 'gifts', exempting them from 200 per cent tax.
The cars were then sold on the open market.
Bac was sentenced to 10 years, with Vietnam's state press saying the city's courts were toughening sentences against returning Vietnamese working 'against the fatherland's best interests'.
Meanwhile, three other convicted Hong Kong men have been moved out of Chi Hoa and into the same ward of a prison farm northeast of the city.
Diplomats believe the Xuan Loc prison in Dong Nai province will be the final home for all eight people from the territory serving sentences in Vietnam.
Convicted fraudsters Chung Hung-kit and Wong Wan-san can now meet Lai Kan-wan, who is serving a life sentence for his alleged role in an international syndicate producing counterfeit 2000 dong notes.
