Former police officer convicted of fraud repeatedly wept in court.
From being a district police officer, Tú lost his future and career behind bars due to fraud and embezzlement of property from acquaintances.
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| Formerly a police officer, Ho Trung Tu was sentenced to 11 years in prison for fraud and misappropriation of property. Photo: Diep Thanh |
On April 9th, the Hanoi City People's Court tried defendant Ho Van Tu (29 years old, residing in Chuong My district, Hanoi) and sentenced him to 11 years in prison for fraud and appropriation of property.
From the beginning to the end of the trial, the former police officer repeatedly wiped away tears. Defendant Tú has lost his future and career, and must pay the price with a long sentence behind bars.
According to the indictment, Ho Van Tu was formerly a police officer in Chuong My district.
During his time living and working there, Tú developed a close relationship with Mr. Nguyễn Chí Mười. Therefore, Tú often borrowed Mr. Mười's Camry car, worth nearly 1 billion VND, as his means of transportation.
Around the beginning of October 2015, Tú fell into debt. To get money to pay off his debts, the former district police officer came up with the idea of borrowing Mr. Mười's car and pawning it.
According to the investigation documents, on the afternoon of October 14, 2015, Tu went to Mr. Muoi's house to borrow his motorbike to take his parents to the bus station to return to their hometown in Nghe An.
Believing him, Mr. Mười lent Tú the car, unaware that the borrower later pawned it to Mr. Nguyễn Đắc Huy (in Hà Đông district) for 600 million VND.
When pawning the car, Tú told Huy that it was newly purchased and the ownership transfer had not yet been completed.
After receiving the money, Tú used it to pay off debts and spend it all before fleeing. Before leaving, the former police officer wrote a letter to his mother, asking her to tell Mr. Mười that Tú had pawned the car.
On October 15, 2015, when Tú did not return the motorbike and did not answer his phone calls, Mr. Mười reported the matter to the Chương Mỹ District Police.
Because Tu went into hiding, the Hanoi Police issued an arrest warrant. At the end of May 2017, Tu surrendered.
Appearing in court, Tú testified that he had no intention of defrauding or misappropriating property. After the incident, the defendant expressed deep remorse and regret. During the testimony, Tú repeatedly wiped away tears.
Later, at the suggestion of his lawyer, Tú returned to apologize to Mr. Mười and Mr. Huy. The former police officer hoped to receive forgiveness from the victims because he had now lost his career and future.
"I beg you to forgive me so that I can have a chance to start my life over and raise my child," the defendant Tu said, quickly wiping away the tears that were welling up in her eyes.
Present in court, the defendant Tú's wife stated that although her husband was a police officer, he did not give her money for shopping or raising their children.
Given the opportunity to speak his final words before the judges retired to deliberate, the former police officer turned around, wept, and apologized to his relatives and the victims.
