'Green Jacket 17' on Receipts Revealed as Code... Korean Nationals Sentenced to Prison for Facilitating Prostitution in Vietnam

Operating a Restaurant in Vietnam While Facilitating Prostitution
False Receipts Listing Items Like 'Seafood Combo'
Local Court Sentences Two Korean Owners to Eight Years in Prison

Two Korean restaurant owners who facilitated prostitution in Vietnam have each been sentenced to eight years in prison by a local court.

According to VN Express and other sources in Vietnam on January 6 (local time), the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court sentenced two Korean men to eight years in prison each and fined them 30 million dong (approximately 1.65 million won) for charges of facilitating prostitution and offering bribes.

The two individuals, who operated a restaurant in downtown Ho Chi Minh City, were accused of arranging prostitution services for Korean customers and directing female staff to engage in prostitution. After jointly opening the restaurant at the end of 2022, they reportedly committed these crimes when business became sluggish.

They disguised prostitution payments as restaurant charges to evade police crackdowns. The prostitution fee, set at 3.8 million dong (about 210,000 won) per person per night, was recorded on receipts as "Green jacket 17," a label intended to resemble "Whisky Green Jacket 17 Years." Additionally, the hotel room fee of 1 million dong (about 55,000 won) where the prostitution occurred was falsely listed as "Large seafood combo."

Their crimes were exposed in July 2023, when local police apprehended a worker providing prostitution services to Korean customers at a hotel. At that time, it was reported that two Korean customers had dined at the restaurant, selected two female employees, and were caught engaging in prostitution at the hotel. During the investigation, it was also revealed that the restaurant manager and staff knowingly arranged hotel bookings and personnel for the purpose of prostitution.

Meanwhile, the two men are also accused of attempting to bribe the police through a local intermediary to avoid crackdowns, having operated the restaurant without completing the required legal procedures at the time of opening.

Investigations found that they handed over about 840 million dong (approximately 46 million won) to an intermediary who claimed to have connections with the Ho Chi Minh police. However, it was revealed that these intermediaries had no actual influence and embezzled the money. These intermediaries were also prosecuted for fraud and sentenced to seven years and three years in prison, respectively.