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Vietnamese tycoon detained in Singapore deported to Hanoi: lawyer

Fugitive Vietnamese tycoon Phan Van Anh Vu, 42. PHOTO: AFP
Fugitive Vietnamese tycoon Phan Van Anh Vu, 42. PHOTO: AFP

A Vietnamese who was detained in Singapore has been sent back home, according to a lawyer acting for the 42-year-old tycoon.

Remy Choo, who is one of three lawyers acting for Phan Van Anh Vu, told Yahoo News Singapore that his client was put on a flight to Hanoi at 1.58pm on Thursday (4 January). Choo was only informed of this at 4.45pm.

“I am disappointed that, despite our best efforts for our client, he was deported without our knowledge (and not given) an opportunity to contest the allegations made against him,” said Choo.

Vu, who is reportedly wanted in Vietnam for revealing state secrets, was detained at Tuas Checkpoint last Thursday as he tried to leave for Malaysia.

In a one-line media statement, the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said on Tuesday, “Phan Van Anh Vu was arrested on 28 December 2017 for committing offences under the Immigration Act.”

Choo added that he received a letter from ICA on Thursday morning, containing a Removal Order for his client, dated 30 December. “Prior to today, my client’s lawyers were never given sight of this Removal order. I wrote back at 1.10 pm to ask ICA for documents justifying the Removal Order so that my client could appeal the Removal Order, and asked that in the interim he not be removed from Singapore.”

Earlier on Thursday, The Straits Times reported that the Vietnamese government had informed Singapore that Vu’s passport was fake, and bears a false personal identity.

On Tuesday, Choo and his colleagues filed an injunction in the High Court asking the Controller of Immigration for the basis for Vu’s detention, and to prevent his deportation back to Vietnam before the application is heard. Their request for access to their client was granted.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security said last month it was seeking the arrest of Vu, a developer in the central city of Danang, where the local leadership was shaken up after corruption accusations last year.

Vu is a former senior member of the Vietnamese intelligence services. He has applied to Germany for asylum.

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Detained Vietnamese tycoon gains access to legal counsel in Singapore