Pham Van Tam believes his sentence of 4 years 6 months in prison and a 2 billion VND fine for smuggling and tax evasion is excessive, prompting him to appeal for a reduced penalty.
Driver Bui Xuan Trong, 33, was apprehended while transporting 800 bags of smuggled sugar, weighing 40 tons, along a trail from Cambodia to Ho Chi Minh City.
Nguyen Hoang Sa, Nguyen Minh Tri, and their accomplices stand trial for allegedly smuggling 113 kg of gold, worth over 252 billion Vietnamese dong, in western Vietnam.
Pham Van Tam has been sentenced to 4 years and 6 months in prison and fined 2 billion VND for smuggling electronics and assembling imported parts into finished products without issuing invoices.
Pham Van Tam is accused of importing electronics through two companies without truthfully declaring their origin. He also allegedly assembled products from purchased components and sold them without issuing invoices.
Nguyen Hoang Sa and accomplices hid 113 kg of gold worth over 252 billion VND, and millions of USD under the bottoms of motorboats or fish-laden three-wheeled carts, to smuggle them from Cambodia to Vietnam and vice-versa.
