Cooperative director wanted for 13 years under younger brother's name

(Baonghean.vn) - While on bail, Le Xuan Thuy took his wife and children and quickly fled to the South and lived under his younger brother's name.

» Priest Nguyen Dinh Thuc incited parishioners

During the 10-day working session of the Criminal Investigation Police Department (PC52 - Provincial Police), 6 fugitives were arrested and brought to justice for various crimes. Among them, the most notable man was Le Xuan Thuy (57 years old, residing in Dien Cat, Dien Chau, Nghe An) who was wanted for the crime of Intentionally violating State regulations causing serious consequences.

According to the case file, in 1998, Le Xuan Thuy was the Chairman of Dien Cat Agricultural Cooperative (Dien Chau). During this time, Dien Cat Agricultural Cooperative signed a construction contract with HN Company to construct an internal irrigation canal system, the construction value of the project was 340 million VND.

Subject Le Xuan Thuy. Photo: Ngo Hoang

In his role as Head of the Project Management Board, during the construction process, Le Xuan Thuy violated the State's regulations on economic management, causing serious damage. Specifically, during the construction process, the contractor arbitrarily cut a part of the design and moved it to another location for construction. Le Xuan Thuy signed an acceptance certificate exceeding the actual volume, leading to violations in the project settlement process compared to the actual volume. According to the conclusion of the appraisal team of Nghe An Department of Construction, Thuy's actions caused damage to the State of more than 241 million VND.

The case was prosecuted, Le Xuan Thuy was sentenced by the People's Court of Dien Chau district to 18 months in prison, at the appeal hearing it was reduced to 12 months in prison. Due to the family circumstances of an elderly mother, a wife without a stable job, a 3-year-old son and young twins, Thuy filed a request to postpone the execution of the sentence. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Thuy quietly escaped, then brought the whole family to live in the South. In June 2006, Dien Chau district police issued a nationwide wanted notice for Le Xuan Thuy.

All efforts to find him by the authorities were fruitless because he was very cautious and constantly changed his place of residence. In order to settle down, Le Xuan Thuy used his younger brother's name, Le Xuan T., as his ID card and then registered his marriage with his wife. Time passed quickly, Thuy with his new name worked as a construction worker, and his wife worked as a garment worker in Ho Chi Minh City.

Thuy lived a rather closed life, rarely interacting with strangers. Her children often changed places and faced many economic difficulties, so they all dropped out of school early and went to work to earn money. After hiding in many places, thinking that her case had "fallen into oblivion", Thuy took the risk of bringing his wife and children to Binh Hung Hoa ward (Tan Binh district, Ho Chi Minh City) to rent a place to live.

Implementing plan 813 dated December 12, 2016 of the Provincial Police on arresting fugitives and handing them over to competent agencies to handle pending cases, by professional measures, PC52 verified the hiding place of Le Xuan Thuy.

Captain Phan Minh Loc - Team leader of Team 4, PC52, head of the working group, said that from the wife's information, the detectives found Thuy's hiding place. On the night of February 28, when the whole family had finished dinner and were preparing to go to bed, Thuy heard a knock on the door. Seeing the police, Thuy was startled but quickly regained her composure. When the police read the arrest warrant, Thuy still did not admit that she was Thuy but said that she was Le Xuan T.

However, faced with undeniable evidence, Thuy bowed her head and admitted her guilt to the bewilderment of her children. Only then did the man confess to the crime he had committed 13 years ago.

Le Xuan Thuy said: “At first, I was very scared. Because my child was still young, I thought I would wait until he was a little older to avoid suffering and then turn himself in. He was 10 years old, then 12, then 15, but I felt sorry for him so I couldn’t bear it. After Tet, I was discussing with my wife about turning myself in to confess, but before I could do it, I was arrested.”

Ngo Hoang