Super model Ngoc Thuy is being sued by her ex-husband for allegedly appropriating property worth VND288 billion (USD13.8 million).

Super model Ngoc Thuy sued for allegedly appropriating property worth VND288 billion

The HCM City’s People’s Court announced they were handling a civil case based on a dispute over the ownership of the couple’s assets and child custody between Nguyen Duc An, a Vietnamese-American petitioner, and his ex-wife Pham Thi Ngoc Thuy otherwise known as super model Ngoc Thuy.

According to An’s petition, he was married to Thuy in 2006 but they filed for divorce in a Californian court in the US on September 26, 2007.

During the period awaiting the decision, they still lived with each other as spouses in Vietnam between 2007 and 2008.

As An did not have Vietnamese nationality, he asked his wife to use the money that he had earned prior to their marriage to buy land and houses, vehicles and shares in Vietnam, in addition to setting up new bank accounts. This meant that formally the assets were owned by Thuy, but An claims they were really owned by him.

When the California Court of Appeal reached a decision on their divorce, ruled that An should be allowed to retain his assets as there had been no shared assets in their marriage.

“However, after receiving the verdict, Thuy did not comply with the court ruling. Instead she tried to disperse and hand over part of my assets to her relatives or trade them to earn money without getting my approval,” An complained.

Earlier, An agreed with Thuy’s proposal to sell all the assets, with her being allowed to keep any profits from the sales, but she then changed her mind and wanted to keep all the assets.

Failing to reach an agreement after several negotiations, An decided to sue Thuy and claim custody of their two children.

Initially, An submitted his petition against his ex-wife to the District No. 1 Court that then handed the case over to the municipal court.

An said that he wanted Thuy and her relatives to hand back all of his assets to a company that was established to hold finances for their two children. He noted that if Thuy agreed with him, he would withdraw his petition.

“I do not want to claim these assets back for myself. I will keep these assets and hand over them to my children when they grow up. I’m also willing to provide monthly allowances for Thuy to live in Vietnam,” An shared.

Dr. Nguyen Van Tien, lecturer at Ho Chi Minh City University of Law, said the verdict issued by the California Court of Appeal may not work in Vietnam as the two countries have yet to sign agreement on legal issues, according to the HCM City Law newspaper.

Lawyer Nguyen Van Hau said An and his wife may hold half of the assets in accordance with Vietnamese laws.

It is rumoured that Thuy has absconded to the US but her relatives have declined to comment.

“Thuy may be arrested and extradited if she has fled to the US or any other country that has extradition agreements with the US,” said Lawyer Truong Xuan Tam, a member of the Vietnam Lawyers\' Association.

According to HCM City’s People’s Court, Thuy has hired a lawyer in District No. 1 to defend her.

Her ex-husband claims custody of their two children

The defendant\'s relatives declined to comment