The police concluded that journalist Le Duy Phong committed "extortion."

Journalist Le Duy Phong was caught red-handed receiving 50 million VND.

The Investigation Police Department of Yen Bai province has just concluded its investigation into the extortion case and forwarded the file to the Procuratorate of the same level, requesting the prosecution of Mr. Le Duy Phong for the same crime.

Receive 200 million VND to refrain from writing articles.

According to the investigation's conclusions, in June 2017, Mr. Phong, then Head of the Reader Relations Department of the online newspaper Vietnam Education, instructed reporter Le Huu C. to go to Yen Bai to verify the origin and assets on the land belonging to the families of the Director of Public Security and the Director of the Department of Science and Technology of Yen Bai province.

Mr. Phong sent a text message to Mr. Vu Xuan Sang, Director of the Department of Science and Technology of Yen Bai province, requesting a meeting to verify some issues related to his family's "mansion".

During the meeting, Mr. Phong mentioned the story of Mr. Pham Sy Quy's mansion, who was then the Director of the Provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment, which was reported in several newspapers because "Mr. Quy was arrogant, refused to meet with the press, and handled the situation poorly."

According to the investigation's conclusions, Mr. Sang was also confused and worried about the potential impact on his reputation and honor because a newspaper had published an article titled "The magnificent mansion of the Director of the Department of Science and Technology of Yen Bai."

Seeing Mr. Sang's fear, Phong offered the director 200 million dong, promising to "resolve the matter and stop writing articles about Mr. Sang's house."

Mr. Sang agreed and gave Phong 100 million dong in advance at his office.

On the afternoon of June 16, 2017, Phong called again and suggested that Mr. Sang pay the remaining amount that they had agreed upon.Mr. Sang borrowed money and gave Phong an additional 100 million.

On the same day, Phong instructed reporters to stop investigating matters related to Mr. Sang's "mansion."

Mr. Vu Xuan Sang spoke with Tuoi Tre newspaper about giving the journalist 200 million VND in June 2017 - Photo: THAN HOANG

The investigating agency also stated that after giving the money to Phong, Mr. Sang "calmed down" and realized that, in his capacity as a member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee and Director of the Department of Science and Technology, he "could not remain silent." Mr. Sang reported the matter to the provincial chairman and went to the Yen Bai City Police to denounce being extorted 200 million VND by journalist Duy Phong.

Duy Phong was caught red-handed receiving 50 million VND.

According to the investigation's conclusions, while verifying Mr. Sang's complaint, on June 22, 2017, the Yen Bai City Police discovered and caught journalist Duy Phong red-handed extorting money from Mr. Hoang Trung Thuc, who had invested in a transportation company.

Specifically, Phong went to Yen Bai to meet a friend, Do Viet C., who worked at the provincial television station. C. invited Phong to lunch and introduced him to Mr. Thuc. At this meeting, Phong introduced himself as the author of an article related to the land and property of the family of the Director of the Yen Bai Provincial Police.

Mr. Phong also said he was looking into writing an article about business activities in Yen Bai province, including the company in which Mr. Thuc had invested. Mr. Thuc declined the article, and Phong suggested that "it's impossible to resolve this amicably."

Mr. Thuc withdrew 50 million VND that he was carrying and gave it to Phong. Phong agreed to accept the money and continued eating and drinking. The police then raided the place and caught them red-handed.

Journalist Duy Phong claims he was coerced into confessing?

According to the investigation's conclusions, immediately after being caught red-handed, journalist Le Duy Phong confessed to all his crimes. However, during the subsequent investigation, Phong changed his statement, denying that he had embezzled 200 million VND from Mr. Sang and 50 million VND from Mr. Thuc.

The Sang family's mansion - Photo: THAN HOANG

The suspect Phong stated that the reason for changing his testimony was due to coercion and manipulation by the Yen Bai City Police. However, the Yen Bai Provincial Police consider Phong's statement to be unfounded.

The investigation documents and the process of working with various investigators and prosecutors show that the defendant Phong admitted to threatening and extorting money from Mr. Sang and Mr. Thuc. Therefore, there is sufficient evidence to determine that Mr. Phong's actions constitute the crime of "Extortion".

There is insufficient evidence to conclude that the 26 journalists received money.

During the investigation, Mr. Phong confessed to using 200 million VND from Mr. Sang to distribute to 26 reporters and journalists. Among these, Mr. Phong stated that he gave one journalist 30 million VND and 25 others 3 million VND each. The remaining 70 million VND was deposited into his own account.

However, during questioning by the police, all 26 journalists denied receiving any money from Phong. When confronted, Phong also changed his testimony, denying distributing money to any reporters or journalists.

The investigating agency concluded that there was insufficient evidence to determine who Phong had shared the money with and therefore no grounds for prosecution.

According to the Yen Bai Provincial Police, Phong had over 1.6 billion VND in his account when he was arrested. Phong confessed that 70 million VND of that amount was embezzled from Mr. Sang, and the remaining 1.5 billion VND came from real estate transactions. However, Mr. Phong could not specify where, when, or with which individuals or entities he conducted these transactions. Therefore, the investigating agency had no basis to verify the information.