The deceptive tactics of the fake "deputy general director"

From a "ghost" project…

Bui Thi Huong Giang (born in 1977) was born and raised in Ben Thuy ward (Vinh City). Due to difficult family circumstances, Giang started working and experiencing life early on. With her eloquent speaking skills and pretty, attractive appearance, Giang attracted a lot of attention. At only 20 years old, Giang got married, but due to the pressures of making ends meet, neither of them would compromise, and after only a few years, Giang and her husband divorced.

Having moved south with her first child to start a business, Giang traveled extensively, developing complex relationships with many people. Raising a young child alone without a stable job, Giang resorted to impersonating a government official to make ends meet. Using various tricks, she successfully carried out her first scam.

Giang introduced himself as "Deputy General Director and Head of Finance Department of a company under the Ministry of Construction (referred to as BMC Company)." Knowing that Mr. K. in Thanh Chuong district was unemployed, Giang immediately approached him. Giang introduced himself as someone who was implementing a project to build apartment complexes and hotels in Da Nang and Nha Trang cities. The project had been approved and was in the process of implementation, and they needed to find several people suitable for positions within the company.

Giang took Mr. K. to a law office in Vinh to "sign a legal services contract." The contract concerned the construction of an apartment and hotel project that Giang had devised. In it, Mr. K. would receive 600 million VND as payment. Even more cunningly, Giang took Mr. K. to Da Nang City, pointed to vacant plots of land, and presented them as projects Giang was about to launch.

After returning to Vinh City, to swindle money from Mr. K., Giang said: "Currently, the company needs money for initial 'grease money' expenses, but the general director is away and hasn't approved the advance payment yet. Can you lend me some money quickly to get things done? When the boss returns, I'll write a promissory note and repay you promptly." Trusting her, Mr. K. lent Giang a total of 550 million VND twice without writing a promissory note.

Using a similar tactic, Bui Thi Huong Giang also met with Phan Duc T. (born in 1976), the Director of a law firm in the area, to sign a "legal services contract." Giang claimed to be the Deputy General Director of the company and invited Mr. T. to be a legal advisor. Just like with Mr. K., Mr. Phan Duc T. was also taken by Giang to "visit" the project several times with the aim of building Mr. T.'s trust.

Once the victim completely trusted him, Giang borrowed money from Mr. T. multiple times for a project, but in reality, he spent it all. According to Mr. T.'s testimony, he gave Giang 960 million VND, of which over 400 million was transferred to his account (with receipts) and over 500 million was given directly without a receipt.

Besides Mr. K and Mr. T, many other victims also reluctantly became "unwilling" investors in Giang's non-existent apartment and hotel projects.

The "fundraising" tactic

As soon as she assumed the position of "deputy general director" of a large company, Giang spared no expense investing in expensive clothes, phones, and jewelry. In addition, she rented a car and entrusted its driving to her lover, Nguyen Nhu C. (born in 1978). C.'s daily task was to drive Giang to cafes to meet new people. Besides "raising capital" for projects, Giang also boasted about frequently meeting with leaders of the Ministry of Construction, claiming she could secure many jobs, thereby exploiting the trust of her victims to extort money for job placements.

At that time, Bui Thi Huong Giang was unemployed but boasted that she could secure jobs at hospitals, promising to get the daughter of Mr. Tran Dinh T. (Vinh City) a job at Vinh City General Hospital, for an initial fee of 70 million VND. Trusting her, Mr. T. gave Giang 50 million VND upfront without a written agreement. Using this tactic, Giang also received money, promising to "arrange" a job for the daughter of Mr. Nguyen Van D. (residing in Nghi Phu commune, Vinh City) as an accountant in a company for 200 million VND.

In addition, Giang continued his fraudulent activities in Da Nang. Through several business meetings, Giang coincidentally met Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim T. (residing in Hoa Chau commune, Hoa Vang district). Knowing that Ms. T. sold imported goods, Giang repeatedly spent large sums of money buying expensive items and became a regular customer. Taking advantage of the pretext of buying gifts for business partners, Giang asked Ms. T. to purchase expensive phones and cosmetics to give to the wives of his superiors. Furthermore, Giang borrowed money from Ms. T. multiple times, citing reasons such as blocked accounts and inability to access the bank, totaling 530 million VND.

Not only did Giang defraud people in Nghe An and Da Nang, but he also deceived a Vietnamese expatriate. Through social media, in October 2016, Giang befriended Ms. Dao Thanh Th. (living in South Korea). Occasionally, Giang would ask Ms. Th. to buy Korean cosmetics and send them to Vietnam. After some time, Ms. Th. introduced Giang to her younger brother, Dao Ngoc Tuyen, a construction worker in Hanoi whose wife runs a business selling Korean cosmetics and ginseng in Hanoi.

Out of respect and trust in Giang's acquaintance with his sister, and also because of Giang's reputation as the deputy general director, Mr. and Mrs. Tuyen repeatedly sold various goods on credit to Giang, totaling 300 million VND. It wasn't until they saw that Giang was being sought by authorities that Mr. and Mrs. Tuyen realized they had been deceived.

Eight fraud cases involving billions of dong.

As soon as the victims' complaints were sent to the Criminal Investigation Agency of the Vinh City Police, they verified the information to clarify the case..A task force was assigned to go to Ho Chi Minh City to investigate and verify the matter.

After gathering evidence, the investigating agency decided to arrest Giang urgently, but the suspect was not present in the area. During the investigation, it was learned that in late April 2017, Giang married another person, currently residing in Hanoi, but their exact address was unknown. A task force immediately went to Hanoi to verify the information and learned that Giang and his wife were hiding in Da Nang City. Using professional investigative techniques, after traveling back and forth between the North and South, the investigators located Giang and his wife in Thanh Tri District, Hanoi.

In early September 2017, a task force from the Vinh City Police Department arrived in Hanoi to execute an arrest warrant, search Giang's residence, and transport the suspect back to the Vinh City Police Department.

Reportedly, during her detention, Giang presented alibis to deny her guilt. She claimed she was wrongly arrested, stating she hadn't defrauded anyone, and that no one could provide any receipts to prove it. However, when investigators presented documents related to her impersonation of an official and withdrawal slips from the victims' accounts, she finally confessed to her actions. Giang admitted to stealing most of the money.CheatGiang used the money for personal expenses and to fund his later fraudulent activities.

Through investigation and clarification, the investigating agency has verified that from February 2015 to August 2017, Bui Thi Huong Giang committed fraud against 8 victims, with the total amount of money embezzled reaching 2.275 billion VND.

The trial of Bui Thi Huong Giang opened in mid-August 2018. Giang was prosecuted for "Fraudulent appropriation of property." At the trial, Giang admitted to all of her crimes. Based on sufficient incriminating evidence and the entire case, the court sentenced Bui Thi Huong Giang to 13 years in prison and ordered her to compensate the victims.