Arrested a man claiming to be a journalist along with 6 others who extorted property from many people
Claiming to be a journalist, Pham Ngoc Hung forced the owners of the quarry to sell the stones at high prices and collect the difference. With this trick, Hung extorted property from many people with a total amount of more than 500 million VND.
Gia Lai Provincial Police have just announced that the Investigation Police Agency has decided to prosecute the case, prosecute the accused and detain 7 subjects to investigate the crime of "Extortion”.
The defendants include: Pham Ngoc Hung, the mastermind (also known as Hung Cuong, born in 1986, residing in Dien Hong ward, Pleiku city), Le Ngo Vinh Phat (also known as Ga), Vo Van An, Ho Cong Vu, Tran Dinh Hau, Nguyen Van Thieu, and Le Nguyen Tan Sinh.
According to the investigation results, from April 2022 to April 2023, Pham Ngoc Hung went to Chu Se and Chu Prong districts to meet with owners of small, spontaneous, and illegal stone quarries. Hung claimed to be a journalist for the Central Highlands Environment and Urban Magazine.
Hung boasted that he had many relationships with local reporters as well as district and provincial officials to be able to protect illegal stone mining sites to continue operating.
If the quarry owners want to continue mining, they must sell all the stones they have produced to Hung at the current price. When someone comes to buy, the quarry owners must sell at the price set by Hung, 15% or more higher than the market price.
The owners of the quarries receive the agreed amount, the difference must be transferred to Hung. If this is not the case, Hung will personally or have his accomplices record the illegal quarrying and post it on social media, send it to local authorities or provide it to the press for writing.
Due to fear, many owners of illegal stone quarries in Chu Se and Chu Prong districts agreed to follow Hung's request. Every day, Hung sent Le Ngo Vinh Phat, Vo Van An, Ho Cong Vu, Tran Dinh Hau, Nguyen Van Thieu, and Le Nguyen Tan Sinh to directly go to the stone quarries to monitor the exploitation and sale of stone and report back to Hung.
Every week, the owners of the illegal quarries had to transfer money to Hung. By this method, Pham Ngoc Hung appropriated a total of more than 500 million VND.
Gia Lai Provincial Police are completing the case file for processing according to the law.
