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A Philadelphia company and its executives being prosecuted for bribing officials of the government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam have pleaded guilty, according to a press release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office here.

The pleas were entered on March 16 in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania federal court.

Pleading guilty to conspiracy and violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and other acts are the following:

* The company, Nexus Technologies, Inc., pleaded guilty to everything.

* Nam Nguyen, 54, the CEO, pleaded guilty to conspiracy, FCPA violations, the Travel Act violation, and money laundering.

* Kim Nguyen, 41, Nam’s sister, pleaded guilty to conspiracy, substantive FCPA violations, and money laundering.

* An Nguyen, 34, Nam and Kim’s brother, pleaded guilty to conspiracy, FCPA violations, the Travel Act violation, and money laundering.

Another company executive who’s not related with the rest of them, Joseph T. Lukas, had pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy and to violation of the FCPA (see here).

The list of bribe recipients, as alleged in court documents (read more here), are:  VietSov Petro, PetroVietnam Gas Company (in Vietnamese: Tập đoàn Dầu khí Quốc gia Việt Nam), Vung Tau Airport, Southern Flight Management Center, (in Vietnamese: Trung tâm Quản lý Bay Miền Nam) and a tourism and trading company that allegedly belongs the Ministry of Public Safety.

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(This photo by Linh Nguyen/Nguoi Viet)

Phu Nguyen, the former student leader who brought about the current incarnation of the Tet Festival and more than $800,000 that the event generated for community groups left and right, last week-end launched his campaign for the California Assembly, district 68. A number of Viet community figures were there; and even though Phu Nguyen is running as a Democrat, there were quite a few GOP voters among those Viets.

But, first, Phu Nguyen has to win the Democratic primary, and many big names in the party were at his campaign office inauguration.

Jose Solorio, Assembly member and former Santa Ana Councilman.

Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (right) talking to Phu Nguyen campaign volunteer. Leaning against the wall is Ken Arnold, a volunteer and also candidate for Congress.

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National Geographic Society on Wednesday said that it would change the designation “China” on the Paracel Islands, after the Viet group Nguyen Thai Hoc Foundation protested it and started an online petition signed by more than 8100 people worldwide in a matter of just days.

The issue is National Geographic’s World Political Map, to the left above. It’s online here.

The map labels the Paracels with its Chinese name and annotates in red, “China.”

That did not sit well with red blooded Vietnamese, who had held the island until 1974 when the Chinese navy overran the Vietnamese garrison there and took the islands.

The group Nguyen Thai Hoc Foundation started an online petition calling for the removal of the “China” label. The petition was started on March 11 and by March 16 it already had 8100+ signatures.

The Bolsavik contacted the National Geographic Society during the weekend for Nguoi Viet Daily News, and on Monday its spokesperson, Communications Manager Cindy Beidel acknowledged that the society was aware of the petition and that it would respond soon - which it then did the next day.

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Find this Waldo: Can you spot Westminster City Councilman Tri Ta in the following Viet ad for Census 2010?

(Click on picture to see larger photo.)

If you’re wondering about the text, it’s just typical advertising hyperbole: “Spare 10 minutes and improve education, create jobs and develop your community.”

Answer after the jump.

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Police and family are offering a $20,000 reward in the murder of a Viet woman who owned and managed an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado, according to local media.

Lyn Pham, 46, was stabbed to death in her own office at the Descanso Plaza Apartments, says CBS4 in Denver here.

The TV station quoted a resident who said he saw Pham after she was stabbed. “The expression on her face was horrible, like she died in pain,” Hernan Montez told CBS4.

The reward consists of $5,000 from the police and $15,000 from the family. Pham’s cousin Luan Pho told TheDenverChannel.com here that family and friends put up money for the reward because they want the killer caught.

“Not for revenge,” he said, “but to help protect the community. He’s a dangerous individual.”

Pham’s family from California flew in to attend funeral Mass. Even the man who sponsored her family when they first immigrated to the U.S., flew in from Missouri.

“I remember Lyn as the spunky one,” said Mike Boessen, a member of the church that sponsored Lyn’s family.

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The pharmacist in the well-publicized Mississippi supposed “pill mill” case was acquitted on 43 counts while another 11 counts resulted in a mistrial, with the jury unable to agree on a verdict, reports the Biloxi-Gulfport Sun Herald here.

The case - which began with a big bang where local TV station WLOX was invited to film, live, the very public arrest of two Viet doctors and a Viet pharmacist - fizzled out when the jury even declined to vote guilty on the conspiracy count against the only defendant who hasn’t pleaded, pharmacist Nick Tran.

The colossal criminal case started with 22 counts and then was amended to expand to 60 counts. The defendants are: two physicians, husband-and-wife Dr. Thomas Trieu and Dr. Victoria Van; Dr. Trieu’s brother Richard who’s their office manager; and Tran who owned the pharmacy next door and filled the prescriptions written by the two doctors.

The government initially tried to have the defendants held without bail. The accused, however, fought back, claiming innocence. After 72 straight days in custody, the defendants won bail. Read here and here.

After the jury verdict, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Meynardie said he was disappointed and claimed the jury found Tran not guilty on “the weakest counts,” which he said applied more to doctors charged in the case, according to the Sun Herald.

“That can happen when you let someone who is more culpable plead guilty,” Meynardie said — totally ignoring the fact that it’s almost certainly him who’s the one agreeing to the pleas.

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Both of Little Saigon’s community banks are under financial stress, as a key indicator for both of them exceed the likely-to-fail mark, according to the OC Business Journal here.

Both First Vietnamese-American Bank and Saigon National Bank have distressingly high “Texas ratio” - an index that you want to be really low, and that anything above 100 indicates a likelihood to fail. The numbers were calculated by Carpenter & Co., a banking industry consulting company based in Irvine.

First Vietnamese-American’s Texas ratio stands at 234, and Saigon National’s is 117.

The OCBJ was unable to reach Saigon National Bank’s president. The president of FVAB declined to comment.

A Texas ratio above 100 means that if all the non-performing assets - those expected to go bad - actually do go bad, the bank will be unable to cover it and the FDIC will have to step in.

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Following the jump is the full text of Quang Pham’s press release announcing his withdrawal.

If anything, the press release shows that GOP leaders, from the local to the national level, are just simply relieved that they were able to avert what could be a bloody primary contest between Pham and Assemblyman Van Tran.

It also appears that the leadership decided to step in after poll numbers predicted an extremely close and costly race. Said Rep. Ed Royce (in whose office Tran used to intern): “According to recent polling, Quang Pham would have been competitive in the primary election.”

Click on the jump to read more.

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The former U.S. Marine who plunked a chunk of his personal fortune into the race for the Republican nomination to run against Rep. Loretta Sanchez has suspended his campaign.

In a phone call with the Bolsavik this morning, Quang X. Pham said he wanted to concentrate on his family and business. “I have a great business opportunity and found out I couldn’t devote 100% to both (the business and the campaign.”

Pham also blamed the shifting dynamics of the race, citing negative attacks being circulated around the listservs. He asked rhetorically, “Is the goal to win a seat in Congress, or to tear apart each other?”

A press release will be sent out soon, he said.

Two Vietnamese men were arrested in the Florida Keys after a Super Bowl party fight in which one man grabbed the other’s testicles, “puncturing them with his fingers,” says the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office here.

The fight occurred late at night, long after the Super Bowl was over. By then, it was already 2a.m. the next day Feb. 8.

Y Le (top mugshot), a 27-year-old technician living at the house in Sugarloaf Key, was getting tired so he told everyone to leave.

Vinh Pham (bottom mugshot), 43, however, didn’t want to. The man, a bartender by trade, was playing cards and apparently having a, well, ball.

Le insisted, Pham refused. One thing led to another and the two started fighting. At some point, Le allegedly hit Pham with a beer bottle and cut him in the face. Then Pham punched Le, dislocating his jaw.

And then at another point Pham had Le in a chokehold. So Le grabbed Pham’s testicles and, allegedly, ahem, poked holes in them.

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