The girl repeatedly gave herself to the fake fortune teller.
Believing that she had to pay off her "predestined debt from a previous life", the girl was deceived by Bui Dang Linh and had her property taken away many times.
Last week, the Hanoi People's Court opened the second appeal hearing, considering the petition for a reduced sentence of Bui Dang Linh (27 years old, in My Duc district) for the crime of Extortion of property under Clause 1, Article 135 of the 1999 Penal Code.
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Defendant Linh at the second appeal hearing. |
According to the first instance judgment, kIn August 2014, Linh went online using an account named Nam Nguyen and met a girl named Hue. While getting to know Hue, to hide his identity, Linh uploaded other people's photos to his account, so he talked to the girl many times without her knowing his true face.
During their online conversations, Linh saw that Hue believed in predestination, so he introduced himself as a fortune teller and palmist. Then, Linh asked the girl to take a picture of her hand and face so he could read her fortune.
Hue did as she was told and sent it to Linh. He said she had a debt of love from a previous life and that she had to repay it in this life to live in peace. The method of repayment was that Hue had to voluntarily give herself to a man who actively contacted her online. After the relationship was over, Hue also had to give that man a gift of gold and money. Only by doing so could she resolve her negative karma and her life would improve.
Linh told her that when she found a man, she should ask him to take a picture of their hands and send it to him to see if they were compatible. Trusting Linh's fortune-telling ability, the girl did as she was told and sent him many pictures and hands of men she met on the Internet, but he always replied that they were not the men from her previous life that she needed to repay her debt.
After many times like that, seeing that Hue believed in the fortune-telling, Linh came up with the idea of tricking her into having sex with her and giving her property. Linh created another account named Vitamin and proactively made friends, talked to Hue and introduced herself with her real name.
Not knowing that the fortune teller and Linh were the same person, Hue asked him to take a photo of her hand and show her. Seeing that the girl did as she was told, Linh sent the photo and real hand to Hue.Then she sent it to Linh and on that occasion, he said that he was the person she was looking for.
Hue trusted him and made an appointment with her chat friend Vitamin to meet her at a room on the 22nd floor of Time City urban area. At that time, to make sure they met, he asked Hue to take nude photos before arriving. The girl promptly followed his request.
In early August 2014, Linh met and had sex with Hue. After having sex, Linh was given a gold necklace and 500,000 VND by the girl.
About a month later, Linh continued to use the nickname Vitamin to contact Hue to get her to give herself to him for the second time. This time, Linh turned around and asked Hue to give him 20 million VND if she did not want to post nude photos on social networks for her friends and relatives to see.
Faced with the threat, Hue had to agree, but she did not have enough money, so she promised to give it to her gradually. During that time, Linh repeatedly texted the victim, asking her to make a selfie clip and send it to him. Linh then continued to use the clip to threaten Hue to “become famous”.
Hue panicked and gave Linh 1.5 million VND. On November 25, 2014, the girl asked Linh to come to her house to give her another 3 million VND. When she arrived, Linh met the victim and her boyfriend. Hue told him that Linh had threatened to blackmail her, so the boyfriend got into a fight with him. Both sides were taken to the police station to resolve the matter. Linh's actions were exposed and she was prosecuted for extortion.
During the investigation, Linh's family provided documents that he had received psychiatric treatment and requested an assessment. The assessment agency determined that Linh: At the time of the crime and currently, had symptoms of grand mal seizures.
On September 16, 2016, Hai Ba Trung District People's Court sentenced Linh to 30 months in prison for Extortion. He later petitioned for a reduced sentence.
On November 16, 2016, the Hanoi People's Court opened an appeal hearing, annulled the first instance judgment, and reinvestigated the case because according to the expert assessment, Linh was mentally ill and needed a guardian and defense.
The prosecution agency continued to prosecute Linh for the crime of Extortion, Clause 1, Article 135 of the 1999 Penal Code. On August 15, 2017, Hai Ba Trung District People's Court sentenced Linh to 26 months in prison.
At the second appeal hearing, the court accepted Linh's request for a reduction in sentence, sentencing him to 16 months in prison.
* Victim's name has been changed.
