Selling pangolin scales for tens of billions of dong, mother-in-law and son-in-law appear in court together
Authorities discovered 110 sacks of pangolin scales in Tran Thi Ngoc’s house. Ngoc confessed that the pangolin scales, worth more than 14 billion VND, belonged to her son-in-law.
On June 23, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a trial of defendants Ho Van Manh (born 1988) and Tran Thi Ngoc (born 1968, Manh's mother-in-law), both residing in Do Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district (Nghe An), for the crimes of "Trading in prohibited goods" and "Violating regulations on the protection of endangered, precious, and rare animals".
In relation to this case, the defendants Pham Thi Lap (born 1981), Ho Mai Yen (born 1980), Nguyen Thi Long (born 1984, Yen's wife), Cao Xuan Quy (born 1988), all residing in Xuan Thap commune, Dien Chau district (Nghe An) were prosecuted for the crime of "Trading in prohibited goods".
The case file shows that Ho Van Manh purchased pangolin scales from defendants Le Quang Loi (currently on the run and wanted), Pham Thi Lap, Ho Mai Yen, Nguyen Thi Long and Cao Xuan Quy from the beginning of 2023 with the aim of selling for profit.
After buying the pangolin scales, Manh hid them at his mother-in-law’s house. The son-in-law asked his mother-in-law to hire someone to sift, clean, and sort the scales into large and small scales, then pack them into sacks to sell to customers.
From January 2023 to October 2023, Manh traded with Loi 4,369 kg of pangolin scales, worth more than VND 23 billion. Manh traded with Lap 1,539 kg of pangolin scales, worth more than VND 7.6 billion.
The investigation agency also determined that Ho Van Manh had bought and sold more than 937 kg of pangolin scales, worth more than 4.6 billion VND, with Yen and Long.
As for Quy, Manh bought and sold more than 47 kg of pangolin scales, worth 238 million VND.
The total weight of pangolin scales that Ho Van Manh bought from the defendants was more than 7,160 kg, worth more than 35 billion VND.
Manh's pangolin scale sales happen regularly, every 2 or 3 months he sells out and buys new ones.
On October 24, 2023, Nghe An police discovered and caught Ngoc hiding 110 sacks of pangolin scales, weighing 2,846 kg, at his house. The council valued the pangolin scales at more than 14 billion VND.
At the trial, the defendants admitted to trading pangolin scales for profit. They asked the court to consider reducing their sentences.
After considering the role of each defendant in the case, the People's Court sentenced Ho Van Manh to 6 years in prison for "Trafficking in prohibited goods" and 1 year in prison for "Violating regulations on the protection of endangered, precious, and rare animals"; The total sentence is 7 years in prison.
Sentenced defendant Tran Thi Ngoc to 2 years in prison for "Trading in prohibited goods" and 1 year in prison for "Violating regulations on the protection of endangered and rare animals"; Total sentence is 3 years in prison.
For the crime of "Trafficking in prohibited goods", the People's Court sentenced Pham Thi Lap and Ho Mai Yen each to 3 years in prison; sentenced Nguyen Thi Long to 2 years and 6 months in prison with a suspended sentence; and defendant Cao Xuan Quy received a 15-month prison sentence with a suspended sentence.
Regarding Le Quang Loi, during the investigation of the case, this subject has not been present in the locality so the Investigation Agency has separated it into another case to continue investigating and handling.
