Arrested young man impersonating Vietnam Circus Federation to transfer 10 thousand VND in charity

On the evening of September 13, Hanoi City Police informed about the results of the verification of the case "Circus Federation sent 10,000 VND to support the flood". According to the authorities, on the same afternoon, the Political Security Department, Internal Affairs verified and invited Mr. NMĐ. (21 years old, a student at a university in Hanoi) to work to clarify the behavior related to the above incident.

At the police station, D. reported that since 2022, D. and some classmates created a chat group on Facebook called "Central Circus" for study purposes and had nothing to do with the Vietnam Circus Federation. When there was an announcement to support compatriots affected by storm No. 3, D. transferred 10,000 VND with the content "tap the ae rap xiec trung uong ung ho" but did not notify or discuss with group members.

Upon hearing the negative public reaction to this incident, D. proactively called the Vietnam Circus Federation to apologize. The police drew up a report to remind NMĐ students, and discussed with the school to strengthen student management in the future.

Previously, on September 12, social networks circulated a list of donations from organizations and individuals to the people of the northern provinces affected by Typhoon Yagi, announced by the Vietnam Fatherland Front, with an account donating 10,000 VND with the content "tap the ae rap xiec trung uong ung ho". This information caused misunderstanding, negatively impacted public opinion, and affected the reputation of the Vietnam Circus Federation.

Immediately after the incident, the Vietnam Circus Federation confirmed: The Vietnam Circus Federation has a plan to mobilize each staff, actor, and worker to donate 1 day's salary to help people affected by Typhoon Yagi and plans to organize a performance calling on artists and audiences to join hands to support people in flooded areas. People's Artist Tong Toan Thang affirmed that this is false information, affecting the reputation of the Vietnam Circus Federation. The Federation has contacted the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and the bank receiving the transfer to check and correct the information on the media.

According to Mr. Thang, the Vietnam Circus Federation is a unit under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. For many years, the unit has always supported people affected by natural disasters and floods through the Trade Union of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Accordingly, each person will contribute one day's salary and transfer it to the Ministry's Trade Union.

The Director of the Vietnam Circus Federation expressed his indignation when the information spread was defaming and affecting the reputation of the artists as well as the Vietnam Circus Federation. People's Artist Tong Toan Thang affirmed that "an art unit doing culture but only supporting 10,000 VND is unreasonable and unacceptable".

The artist shared: "During this time, we had to cancel more than 10 Mid-Autumn Festival performances to join hands with our compatriots affected by storms and floods. In the Federation, there are also many actors in the suburbs who were also affected after the storm."

"No matter how much you donate, it is valuable. The money donated in times of difficulty exceeds the bank's value, it is the value of human conscience. The Vietnam Circus Federation is an agency under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and has responded to the call from the Ministry's Trade Union. The artists in the unit donated 1 day's salary and transferred it to the Ministry's Trade Union, we did not send it separately like that," the artist explained.

The City Police recommends that when participating in activities on social networks, people need to have correct awareness, behave in accordance with legal regulations and in accordance with Vietnamese traditional cultural and ethical values; do not spread unofficial or untrue information that negatively affects public opinion.