Former land official caught after 12 years on the run under the 'cover' of a dead person

12 years on the run of a former commune land officer

According to the investigation agency's documents, from 2004 to 2006, while holding the position of Land Officer of Nghia Xuan commune, Truong Huy Kien claimed that he had close relationships with his superiors, could make land use right certificates (red books) "super fast" for people, and from there received money from hundreds of households in many communes of Nghia Xuan, Chau Loc, Chau Thai... in Quy Hop district to make red books for these families.

Taking advantage of the people's lack of knowledge, after holding the money in his hand, Kien forged land titles for households with the purpose of appropriating all the money that the people paid. In addition, Truong Huy Kien also used some of these fake titles to "magically" borrow from the bank more than 200 million VND and borrow money from the outside world (through mortgaging fake land titles) a relatively large amount of money for personal use but was unable to pay.

After everything was exposed, to avoid getting caught up in the law, Kien quickly fled the area, completely cutting off all contact with his family and relatives. Authorities determined that the amount of money that this former land officer had appropriated from households in need of red books and credit institutions was more than half a billion VND. On June 10, 2006, the Investigation Police Agency of Quy Hop District Police issued a wanted notice for Truong Huy Kien on two charges of "Fraudulent appropriation of property" and "Forgery in work". The task of capturing the subject was assigned to the Criminal Investigation Police Department of Nghe An Provincial Police (now the Wanted Team, Criminal Police Department).

Defendant Truong Huy Kien. Photo: Phan Giang

Wanted under the "cover" of a dead person

With his cunning and cunning nature, Kien chose the densely populated city of Hanoi as his hiding place, living by many different jobs. He also did not forget to frequently change his residence and job to avoid detection.

After fleeing, Kien legalized all his documents and identification papers to Nguyen Phi Hung - a deceased sworn brother. He pasted his photo onto Hung's ID card to hide his identity.

After a while, realizing that everything had quieted down, thinking that the police had "forgotten" him, in 2012, Kien decided to choose Yen Bai as a place to live for the rest of his life, not knowing that, throughout the past time, the Nghe An Police wanted force had not forgotten its duty to keep an eye on this case that had not closed for a single day.

Under this cover, Kien transformed himself into an honest, simple man, always enthusiastic in helping people, so he was loved by his neighbors. Before going to Yen Bai to start a career and marry a local girl there, Kien secretly returned to his hometown in Nghe An to complete divorce proceedings from his first wife. Before being arrested, Truong Huy Kien married his second wife and had two more children.

In August 2018, according to information, in Vinh Kien commune, Yen Binh district, Yen Bai province, a man named Nguyen Phi Hung (37 years old) recently appeared, with a similar appearance to the wanted fugitive who had been on the run for the past 12 years. Immediately, the Nghe An Police working group was present to verify.

After a period of focusing all resources to fight, verify and screen the subjects, the belief that the two subjects Nguyen Phi Hung and Truong Huy Kien are one has more basis when the detective discovered that recently, Kien's mother and sister appeared in Vinh Kien commune.

It is believed that during his time in hiding, Truong Huy Kien may have changed his name to Nguyen Phi Hung to hide his identity, and chose Vinh Kien commune as his hiding place, so a plan to ambush and capture Kien was drawn up.

Until the evening of October 2, 2018, the Task Force received information from Vinh Kien Commune Police that Kien had just returned home from a business trip. Immediately, the Nghe An Provincial Police task force was present at Vinh Kien Commune. Using professional measures, the police force immediately controlled and arrested the subject, leaving him completely surprised and unable to react.

During the arrest, Truong Huy Kien initially denied the crime and always claimed that he was Nguyen Phi Hung. However, after the struggle, faced with undeniable evidence, Kien had to bow his head and admit all his crimes.