Brothers colluded to sell people to China
(Baonghean.vn) - After getting married and living in China, Lo Thi My called her brother to discuss sending someone to marry her and receiving a "commission". In the end, both siblings ended up in trouble with the law.
On April 8, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a first-instance criminal trial of Lo Thi My (born 1990), residing in Lang Khe commune, Con Cuong district, and Lo Bun Ma (born 1988), My's brother, residing in Huu Lap commune, Ky Son district, for the crime of "Human trafficking".
According to the case, Lo Thi My went to China to marry and live with a local man (unknown background and address) since 2013. After many times of contacting her family, My discussed with her brother that if anyone wanted to go to China to do business, they should bring them to My to sell to Chinese men for money, and My would pay them.
On June 14, 2014, Lo Bun Ma called his sister to discuss the matter of VHY (born in 1994), residing in Huu Lap commune, Ky Son district, wanting to go to China. After talking directly with Y., My told the victim that if she went, she would receive 60 million VND, and the victim agreed. Then My told her brother that if he took Y. to China, he would receive 5 million VND as a reward, and Ma agreed.
On the same day, Lo Bun Ma took Y. to Mong Cai City (Quang Ninh). Here, Bun Ma called My and was instructed to cross the border illegally to the other side of the border where someone would pick him up. After that, the two were taken to My's husband's house. Bun Ma stayed there for about 2 days and My gave him 3.5 million VND for the bus fare back to Vietnam.
The victim VHY was then sold by My and her husband to a Chinese man for 650,000 yuan (equivalent to about 200 million VND). My said her husband sent 35 million VND back to Vietnam, of which 30 million VND was sent to the victim’s family, and the remaining 5 million VND was for Bun Ma’s wages. My said her Chinese husband kept the remaining 165 million VND for living expenses and gave her a small amount of money every month for pocket money.
In November 2018, VHY was allowed by her husband's family to return to Vietnam to visit her family. On October 24, 2023, VHY filed a complaint against Lo Thi My and Lo Bun Ma. Knowing that they could not escape punishment, My and her brother went to the police station to surrender.
At the trial, the two defendants My and Bun Ma admitted to all the crimes as charged in the indictment. Both defendants Bun Ma and My said that the victim HY came to them to ask them to take her to China to get married. In this case, defendant My was the initiator but Bun Ma was the one who directly took the victim to China, so they had equal roles.
Considering the case as a whole, the panel sentenced Lo Thi My and Lo Bun Ma to 5 years in prison for “Human trafficking”. In civil matters, the defendant My was ordered to pay 20 million VND in compensation as requested by the victim.
