Selling his nephew to a foreign country, former village chief sentenced

On November 16, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial to try Lo Thi Phuong (born 1969), residing in Xieng Lip village, Yen Hoa commune, Tuong Duong district, for the crime of"Human trafficking".

According to the investigation documents, in early November 2012, Luong Thi Bich Lan (born in 1992, from Nga My commune, Tuong Duong district), who is currently living and working in China, called Phuong to discuss finding a woman to take to China to get married, promising to pay 5 million VND. Lan also suggested to Phuong: "try asking D." Phuong understood and looked for Lo Thi D. (born in 1995, living in the same locality), a cousin, to take to China to get married.

Defendant Lo Thi Phuong. Photo: Tran Vu

Phuong went to meet D.'s parents to discuss taking their son to China. When meeting D., Phuong said she was going to work for a company in Dong Nai to make the girl trust her. Phuong promised to bring her son along, and would find a light job. If D. did not like it, she could bring him home. However, D.'s family did not agree because D. was still a child.

Two days later, Phuong came back to convince D. to work for the company and D. and her family agreed. After that, Phuong called Lan to inform her that she had persuaded D. to go to China. Lan said she would give D.'s family 10 million VND.

After that, Phuong took a bus to take D. to Mong Cai City (Quang Ninh Province). Here, Lan arranged for someone to pick up Phuong and D. Phuong received 15 million VND, of which 5 million was for wages and 10 million was given to D.'s family.

Ms. D. was taken to Han Tan province, China and was sold by Lan to a local man. After 7 years of living there, in December 2019, Ms. D. escaped back to Vietnam. Ms. D.'s family came to her house to blame Phuong, demanding compensation of 30 million VND. Lo Thi Phuong agreed to pay the compensation, and had a written agreement.

On May 12, 2020, Lo Thi D. filed a complaint against Phuong to the police of Tuong Duong district. Lo Thi Phuong was arrested for human trafficking.

In court, the defendant admitted all the crimes. The defendant said that because he listened to Lan, he found someone to take him to China. “Lan paid me 5 million, but I used that money for food and travel for both me and D,” Phuong explained.

It is known that at the time of his arrest, defendant Phuong was holding the position of village chief in Yen Hoa commune.

Considering the case as a whole, the People's Court sentenced Lo Thi Phuong to 4 years in prison for human trafficking.

In this case, Luong Thi Bich Lan was also the one who raised the issue, arranged, and directed the entire process of Phuong deceiving Ms. D., and then selling this girl. However, during the exchange and agreement process between Phuong and Lan, it was all done over the phone, not in person. The investigation agency has verified that Lan was not present at the locality, so her statement has not been recorded, and there is not enough basis to prosecute the accused. The investigation agency continues to investigate and clarify.