Police conclude journalist Le Duy Phong “extortion of property”

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

The Investigation Police Agency of Yen Bai Province Police has just concluded the investigation into the case of property extortion and transferred the file to the same-level People's Procuracy to prosecute Mr. Le Duy Phong for the same crime.

Receive 200 million to not write articles

According to the investigation conclusion, in June 2017, Mr. Phong, who was then the Head of the Readers' Committee of the Vietnam Education e-newspaper, directed reporter Le Huu C. to go to Yen Bai to verify the origin and assets on the land of the family of the Director of Public Security and the Director of the Department of Planning and Investment of Yen Bai province.

Mr. Phong texted Mr. Vu Xuan Sang, Director of the Department of Planning and Investment of Yen Bai province, asking to meet to verify some issues related to his family's "mansion".

At the meeting, Mr. Phong mentioned the story of Mr. Pham Sy Quy's mansion, then Director of the Provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment, which was published in several newspapers because "Mr. Quy was stubborn, refused to meet the press, and did not handle the situation well."

According to the investigation conclusion, because a newspaper published an article with the title "Magnificent mansion of the family of the Director of the Department of Planning and Investment of Yen Bai", Mr. Sang was confused and afraid of affecting his reputation and personal honor.

Seeing Mr. Sang's fear, Phong asked the director to give him 200 million VND and he would "settle the matter and not write about Mr. Sang's house anymore".

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

On the afternoon of June 16, 2017, Phong continued to call and suggest that Mr. Sang give the remaining amount of money that the two parties had agreed upon.Mr. Sang borrowed money and gave Phong another 100 million.

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

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

The investigation agency also said that after giving the money to Phong, Mr. Sang "calmed down" and realized that as a member of the Provincial Party Committee and Director of the Department of Planning and Investment, he "could not remain silent". Mr. Sang reported to the provincial chairman and went to the Yen Bai City Police to report that journalist Duy Phong had extorted 200 million VND.

Caught Mr. Duy Phong receiving 50 million VND

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

Specifically, Phong went to Yen Bai to meet a friend named Do Viet C. who was working 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 real estate of the family of the Director of Yen Bai Provincial Police.

Mr. Phong also said he was researching and writing an article about business activities in Yen Bai province, including the company that Mr. Thuc invested in. Mr. Thuc asked not to write the article and Phong suggested that "it is impossible to resolve feelings".

Mr. Thuc withdrew 50 million VND he had brought with him and gave it to Phong. Phong agreed to accept the money and continued eating and drinking. The police raided and caught him red-handed.

Journalist Duy Phong said he was forced to confess?

According to the investigation conclusion, immediately after being caught red-handed, journalist Le Duy Phong confessed to all his crimes. However, during the investigation, Mr. Phong changed his testimony, not admitting to having appropriated 200 million from Mr. Sang and 50 million from Mr. Thuc.

Mr. Sang's family mansion - Photo: THAN HOANG

Defendant Phong said the reason for changing his testimony was because he had been forced and prompted by Yen Bai City Police. However, Yen Bai Province Police said Phong's testimony was baseless.

According to the investigation documents and the process of working with many different investigators and prosecutors, the defendant Phong confessed to threatening and appropriating money from Mr. Sang and Mr. Thuc. Therefore, there is sufficient basis to determine that Mr. Phong's actions constitute the crime of "Extortion of property".

There is not enough basis to conclude that 26 journalists received money.

During the investigation, Mr. Phong confessed that he had used Mr. Sang's 200 million to divide among 26 reporters and journalists. Of this amount, Mr. Phong confessed that he gave 30 million VND to one journalist and 3 million VND to 25 others each. The remaining 70 million VND Mr. Phong deposited into his own account.

However, when working with the police, all 26 journalists stated that they did not receive money from Phong. When confronted, the defendant Phong also changed his statement and did not share the money with any reporters or journalists.

The investigation agency concluded that there was not enough evidence to determine who Phong had divided the money with and there was no basis for prosecution.

According to Yen Bai Provincial Police, when Phong was arrested, there was more than 1.6 billion VND in his account. Phong stated that 70 million VND was appropriated from Mr. Sang, and the remaining 1.5 billion VND came from real estate trading. However, Mr. Phong could not specifically declare where, when, and with which individuals or organizations he traded land. Therefore, the investigation agency had no basis to verify.