The trick of 'making a red book' to seize the property of a gambler
To have money to gamble, Le Thanh Hung used sophisticated tricks to commit fraud related to land. Hung bought fake "red books" online, provided false information, fabricated the story "Director of Nghe An Province Land Registration Office was arrested" to ask people to transfer money to redeem the "red books".
Sophisticated scam
Le Thanh Hung (33 years old), residing in Dien Ky commune, Dien Chau district, has the main job of purchasing scrap. With a 9/12 education level, this subject has used many sophisticated tricks to defraud and appropriate more than 2.5 billion VND.
Hung's trick was to "brag" that he was capable of doing land-related procedures such as applying for land use right certificates, dividing plots, changing land use purposes... thereby appropriating money from the victims. Mr. Ho Ngoc L. (born in 1972, residing in Dien Van commune, Dien Chau district) is one of the victims who "fell into the trap" of Hung.
In July 2022, knowing that Hung was providing land-related services, Mr. L. asked this person to do the procedures for granting a Land Use Rights Certificate. During the process of making the documents from August 2022 to June 2023, Hung gave many false reasons such as needing money for "lobbying", "compensation"... to ask Mr. L. to transfer money. After that, Hung edited a photo of a land use rights certificate in the name of Mr. L. and his wife and sent it via Zalo for this man to see.
Next, Hung announced that the Director of the Nghe An Province Land Registration Office had been arrested and that Mr. L.'s "red book" was being held for investigation. Hung asked Mr. L. to give him 200 million VND to redeem the "red book". Trusting him, Mr. L. gave Hung money many times, totaling more than 940 million VND.
Using the same trick, Hung tricked Mr. Tran Van B. (born in 1944, residing in Nghi Quang commune, Nghi Loc district) into giving him a large sum of money. Hung claimed that he could do the procedures to issue and change the Land Use Right Certificate and separate the land plot to gain Mr. B's trust. Initially, Hung only asked Mr. B. to give him a small amount of money to take care of the "water".
Hung then told the victim to give him a larger amount of money to “compensate” and “connect” with the paperwork. When Mr. B. urged him, Hung went online to buy a fake land title for 5 million VND to give to this person. The total amount of money Hung defrauded from Mr. B. was 210 million VND. Hung used the money he had embezzled to gamble online and spend it on personal expenses.
The investigation agency determined that from July 2022 to July 2023, by means of fraud in land-related procedures, Le Thanh Hung defrauded 7 victims, appropriating more than 2.5 billion VND.
During the fraud, Hung forged a receipt for land use rights registration, used a fake seal from the Dien Chau District Land Use Rights Registration Office to stamp the fake receipt and gave it to the victim. In addition, Hung also went online to order a fake "red book" and gave it to the victim.
With the above actions, Le Thanh Hung was prosecuted and brought to trial for 3 crimes including: Fraudulent appropriation of property, Forgery of documents of agencies and organizations and Use of fake seals and documents of agencies and organizations.
Carrying 4 charges at the same time
At the trial, defendant Hung admitted to the crime as charged in the indictment. The defendant claimed that he had “relationships” and had previously helped some people with paperwork related to land.
Later, due to losses in online gambling, the defendant had the idea of defrauding people who needed to resolve land procedures. In the presence of the victims, the defendant apologized. Regarding the amount of money he had appropriated, Hung stated that he was currently unable to compensate.
Defendant Hung explained that his wife was unemployed and his mother had severe tuberculosis and was frequently hospitalized, so the family had no money. He had asked many relatives to help him compensate the victims, but no one was able to do so. He promised that after serving his prison sentence, he would work and earn money to pay the victims.
In his final statement before the court deliberated, the defendant asked the court to consider reducing his sentence. “My father has passed away, and now I only have my mother who is often sick. What I fear most is that when I return home, I will no longer have the chance to see my mother. Please consider giving me a lighter sentence,” Hung told the court.
.jpg)
The first instance trial panel determined that the defendant's criminal behavior was dangerous to society. In this case, the defendant had aggravating circumstances such as recidivism, committing the crime 2 times or more, and committing the crime against a person over 70 years old...
Considering the case comprehensively, the People's Court sentenced Le Thanh Hung to 16 years in prison for Fraudulent appropriation of property; 6 months in prison for Forging documents of an agency or organization; 6 months in prison for Using fake seals and documents of an agency or organization.
The defendant committed the crime when the 20-month suspended sentence, 40-month probation for the crime of Trafficking in Prohibited Goods had not been completed. Therefore, the court decided to convert the suspended sentence into a prison sentence, forcing the defendant to serve 20 months in prison for the crime of Trafficking in Prohibited Goods. Thus, the defendant Hung must serve a total sentence of 18 years and 8 months in prison.
Although the defendant had to pay the price with a long prison sentence, the sadness of the victims still exists. Because they do not know when they will get back the money that Hung defrauded and appropriated. Among them, some people lost billions...
