Arrest of subjects who swindled and sold ancient statues in many provinces and cities

Recently, through monitoring the situation on cyberspace, Nghi Loc District Police discovered a new method of fraud and appropriation of property in the form of selling ancient statues of Saint Joseph, Our Lady of the Rosary, Our Lady of Grace, etc. to people, dignitaries, and officials at churches and parishes in many provinces and cities across the country; appropriating billions of dong, causing public outrage, especially in areas with religious compatriots.

Identifying this as a new method of fraud, with very sophisticated tricks, taking advantage of the victims' religious beliefs to commit crimes, affecting security and order, Nghi Loc District Police have established a special project to combat it.

Also during the investigation, Nghi Loc District Police received a report from a woman residing in Nghi Loc District that in mid-April 2024, two strange men proactively contacted her and introduced to her that they had dug up statues of Saint Joseph, Our Lady of the Rosary, and Our Lady of Grace, and then sold them to her for 177 million VND.

Receiving the complaint, the investigation team determined that the two subjects who sold the ancient statues of Saint Joseph, Our Lady of the Rosary, and Our Lady of Grace all resided in Tay Ninh province, including: Vo Van Kien (born in 1990), residing in Gia Loc ward, Trang Bang town, and Nguyen Chi Tam (born in 1991), residing in Suoi Da commune, Duong Minh Chau district.

These are also the two ringleaders of a ring that sells ancient statues of Saint Joseph, Our Lady of the Rosary, and Our Lady of Grace to people, dignitaries, and officials at churches and parishes in many provinces and cities across the country, which Nghi Loc District Police are establishing a special project to combat.

Determined to quickly arrest the subjects and stabilize public opinion, the Investigation Committee sent working groups to Tay Ninh province to verify. However, the arrest encountered many difficulties because the subjects moved and hid in Cambodia, frequently changing phone numbers and ways to contact their families.

With a spirit of dedication to work and determination to attack crime to the end, on May 30, 2024, in Trang Bang town, Tay Ninh province, Nghi Loc district police presided over and coordinated with the professional department of Nghe An provincial police, Trang Bang town police and Duong Minh Chau district police (Tay Ninh province) to arrest Vo Van Kien for fraud and property appropriation; seized 9 bronze statues, 3 mobile phones and many other related evidences.

At the police station, Vo Van Kien confessed that since the beginning of 2024, he and Nguyen Chi Tam had discussed and agreed to buy bronze statues for prices ranging from 1,000,000 to 1,500,000 VND, and self-made additional letters and numbers "24-12-1728"; "GOLD 14K" to disguise the origin of the statues as "antiques", made of gold and silver with high prices; then went to parishes and churches to fraudulently resell them for prices ranging from 15,000,000 to 20,000,000 VND/statue.

Using the above methods and tricks, the subjects went to many provinces and cities such as Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Hue, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City... to find parishes, chapels, and religious centers of Catholicism to defraud and appropriate property, the amount of money appropriated from many victims was about 2 billion VND.

The subject admitted to having committed a fraud and appropriated 177 million VND of property from a resident in Nghi Loc district in mid-April 2024. Currently, Nghi Loc district police are coordinating with police from other provinces and cities to verify, continue to fight, and expand the project.