Vietnam arrests fugitive tycoon deported from Singapore

SINGAPORE/HANOI: A fugitive Vietnamese property tycoon who is accused of spilling state secrets was arrested in Hanoi on Thursday after Singapore deported him, despite appeals that his life could be in danger in Vietnam.

Phan Van Anh Vu, 42, told his lawyers he was also a senior officer in Vietnam’s secret police and was trying to get to Germany and could have details of an operation in which a wanted Vietnamese oil executive was spirited home from Berlin last year.

Vu’s case put a new international spotlight on a sweeping crackdown on corruption in the communist state, where graft has flourished alongside years of rapid economic growth that have made it a prime destination for investors.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security said on its website that Vu was arrested in Hanoi after being deported from Singapore and that it would “investigate according to Vietnamese law”. Vu had been detained in Singapore on December 28 as he tried to leave for neighbouring Malaysia. Singapore authorities said he had entered the country on a passport with a false identity while carrying another Vietnamese passport with his real identity and also had a third passport in his possession.

Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs said Vu was wanted under an Interpol “Red Notice” issued by Vietnam and had been removed by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority.

A lawyer for Vu in Singapore said he was only informed about the deportation nearly three hours after Vu had been flown out.