Still in debt but still continuing to commit surrogacy fraud

On the morning of June 21, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened the first instance trial of defendant Vu Thi Lieu (born 1990), residing in Ninh Giang district, Hai Duong province, for the crime of "Fraudulent appropriation of property".

It is known that in October 2022, Lieu posted on social media information about surrogacy with a package price and commitment as desired.

At that time, Ms. NTV (born in 1978), residing in Nghe An, and her husband wanted to have another son to "continue the family line" but were not healthy, so they contacted Lieu hoping to ask someone to be a surrogate mother.

When Ms. NTV requested, Lieu promised to find a surrogate mother and give birth to a son for her and her husband through artificial insemination for a total price of 700 million VND. As soon as both parties agreed, Lieu completed the registration procedures for Ms. NTV's husband to go for a check-up and sperm collection procedures.

However, due to the health of the woman Lieu introduced for egg retrieval, the egg could not be fertilized. Lieu had the intention of appropriating NTV and her husband's money to spend.

Lieu still lied to NTV and her husband that everything had been completed and that the surrogate mother was very healthy. Then, Lieu sent a picture of another baby to NTV and her husband and said that this was her husband's child, born by the surrogate mother.

When Ms. NTV and her husband repeatedly urged Lieu to complete the adoption procedures, Lieu made many excuses to delay, making the victim suspicious. To confirm, Ms. NTV asked Lieu to send her a hair sample from the baby and then go for a DNA test herself.

The results of the examination showed that the baby and Ms. NTV's husband were not related by blood. Ms. NTV immediately asked Lieu to return the money, but this woman refused to pay, so the family filed a complaint with the authorities.

It is known that at the time Lieu committed the act, Lieu was postponing the execution of a 15-month prison sentence for the crime of organizing surrogacy for commercial purposes because she was raising a young child.

Considering the circumstances and case records, the Trial Panel decided to sentence the defendant Vu Thi Lieu to 8 years in prison for the crime of "Fraudulent appropriation of property". Including the unexecuted sentence, the defendant must serve a sentence of 9 years and 3 months in prison.