Defendant Tran Qui Thanh was sentenced to 8 years in prison.
On April 25th, after three days of initial trial, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court announced its verdict against defendants Tran Qui Thanh, Tran Uyen Phuong, and Tran Ngoc Bich for the crime of abusing trust to appropriate property.
Accordingly, the court sentenced the defendants as follows: Tran Qui Thanh to 8 years in prison, Tran Uyen Phuong to 4 years in prison, and Tran Ngoc Bich to 3 years in prison with a suspended sentence. The court also ordered each defendant to pay 100 million VND to the state treasury.
Regarding civil liability, considering the victims' requests to annul the contracts notarized and certified by competent authorities, and to return the money and assets, the court found these requests to be well-founded and accepted them. The court also ordered the brokers to return the money received after the transactions between the victims and the defendants.
According to the panel of judges, defendant Tran Qui Thanh was the one who directly worked with and communicated with the borrowers, acted as a middleman, and then informed his two daughters, Tran Uyen Phuong and Tran Ngoc Bich, therefore he must bear primary responsibility, followed by Tran Uyen Phuong and Tran Ngoc Bich.
The lender and borrower agreed that the lender would return the land and shares once the borrower repaid the principal and interest. However, when the borrower tried to repay the loan, the lender made it difficult for them, citing various reasons, and refused to return the land and shares.
According to the court, the defendants only appropriated the assets on paper; in reality, the victims still possess the assets.
