Girl who sold medical masks online gets prison sentence

On the morning of April 29, 2020, Nghi Loc District People's Court held a public trial of the criminal case of "Fraudulent appropriation of property" against defendant Le Nu Lan Na (born 2001), residing in Nghia Trung commune, Nghia Dan district, Nghe An, for fraud in selling medical masks online..

According to the indictment, with the purpose of appropriating other people's property, Le Nu Lan Na created a Facebook account "Trùm Sì Túi", then changed it to "Tuan Chuyen Sì" impersonating an online seller to appropriate deposits from buyers. Around the end of January 2020, taking advantage of the complicated development of the Covid-19 epidemic, the increasing demand for masks, especially medical masks, Na posted on the Facebook account "Trùm Sì Túi" pictures of handbags and medical masks to sell in large quantities at competitive prices to create trust for customers.

When customers want to buy, Na asks them to transfer a deposit in advance, then blocks Facebook and cuts off communication to appropriate the money.

Defendant Le Nu Lan Na. Photo: Ngoc Mai

With the above trick, on January 30, 2020, Ms. Nguyen Thi Oanh, residing in Nam Tu Liem District - Hanoi, used the Facebook "Mam Non Viet Uc" to contact Na's Facebook "Trum Si Tui" to order 100 handbags and 5 boxes of medical masks. After agreeing on the quantity and price, at Na's request, on January 30, 2020, Ms. Oanh transferred a deposit of 1 million VND (deposit to buy bags) and on February 1, 2020, Ms. Oanh transferred another 3,600,000 VND (deposit to buy medical masks).

After receiving the money, Na immediately locked her Facebook, cut off contact, did not send any goods, and appropriated 4,600,000 VND from Ms. Oanh. When the incident was at risk of being discovered, Le Nu Lan Na transferred the money back to Ms. Oanh and went to Nghi Loc district police station to surrender and fully confessed her crime.

During the investigation and trial, the Trial Panel found that the defendant was in difficult circumstances, raising two young children alone. The defendant confessed honestly, repented, and voluntarily returned the misappropriated property. The victim also filed a petition for a reduced sentence for the defendant.

However, considering that the defendant's criminal behavior has affected the people's psychology, causing public confusion, especially at a time when the whole country is focusing on preventing and fighting the Covid 19 epidemic. Applying the provisions of Point c, Clause 3, Article 174 of the Penal Code, Nghi Loc District People's Court sentenced the defendant to 2 years and 6 months in prison./.