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Criminal DefenseUnited Kingdom2021Criminal Defense of Foreign National in Ho Chi Minh City
Client Context
A British national, mid-fifties, long-term Vietnam resident operating a small import-export business sourcing artisan products from Vietnamese suppliers for sale to European boutiques. Annual business turnover approximately USD 800K. Married to a Vietnamese national; permanent residence status. No prior criminal history in any jurisdiction.
01
The Challenge
The client was detained by police following a complaint by a former Vietnamese supplier alleging fraud — specifically, that the client had taken delivery of a USD 65K consignment without paying. The client maintained that the consignment had been substantially defective and that the matter was a quality-and-payment dispute squarely within civil jurisdiction. The client had begun internal arrangements to either return the goods or pay against a discount, when the supplier filed the criminal complaint.
Within 36 hours of the complaint being filed, the police had interviewed the client and were considering formal arrest. The client's English was good but his Vietnamese was conversational rather than professional, and the initial interview had been conducted in Vietnamese with a basic interpreter. There were already concerns about how some statements had been recorded.
The specific charge under consideration was Article 174 of the Penal Code (Fraud Through Misappropriation of Property) — a serious commercial-criminal offence carrying up to 20 years' imprisonment for amounts in this range, plus risk of forced exit-ban while proceedings were ongoing. For a long-term Vietnam resident with a Vietnamese spouse, an exit ban alone would have been life-disrupting; a conviction would have been catastrophic.
02
Our Approach
We engaged within hours of being contacted by the client's wife. The first action was a formal letter to the investigating authority requesting that the client's lawyer be present at all further questioning, asserting his rights under Article 16 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Simultaneously, we arranged for the British Consulate to be formally notified.
Our substantive defence had two layers. First, the substance: this was a commercial dispute over goods quality and payment terms, not fraud. The client had taken delivery, immediately contested the quality of the consignment in writing, retained the goods (had not on-sold or destroyed them), and had been actively negotiating either return or discounted payment. Each of these elements was inconsistent with the criminal-law definition of fraud through misappropriation, which requires an intent to permanently deprive without consideration. We prepared a comprehensive evidentiary submission demonstrating each of these elements.
Second, the appropriate forum: the underlying disagreement was a contract dispute clearly within civil jurisdiction. We made a formal submission to the procuracy arguing that the matter should be declassified from criminal to civil, allowing the supplier to pursue any genuine commercial claim through proper channels. We supported this with proposed undertakings: the client agreed to deposit the disputed amount in a third-party escrow pending resolution of the underlying quality dispute through civil mediation.
03
The Outcome
After three months of investigation phase, the procuracy declined to indict and the matter was closed without charges. The escrow deposit was used to satisfy the supplier's claim partially after a separate civil mediation that took an additional six months to conclude. No exit ban was ever formally imposed (the police had considered but not enforced one). The client remained in Vietnam throughout and continues to operate his business. He has since renewed his permanent residence and has had no further legal issues.
Lessons & Generalisable Insight
Speed matters in Vietnamese criminal investigations. The first 48-72 hours after detention or initial questioning shape the case file — and a case file built without defence counsel involvement is harder to reshape later. The boundary between civil and criminal disputes is often not where parties or initial police instincts place it. Skilled formal submissions to the procuracy can succeed in declassifying a matter where the underlying conduct does not satisfy the elements of the criminal offence cited. Embassy notification is a procedural step that supports outcome — both directly (consular monitoring of treatment) and indirectly (the embassy's interest signals to authorities that the matter has international visibility).
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