Due to debt, company director in Nghe An falsified car registration to mortgage

Tran Vu• DNUM_CIZAFZCACB 14:54

(Baonghean.vn) - In need of money to pay off debt, the director of a construction company in Nghe An forged the registration of a luxury car and pawned it to embezzle a large sum of money.

On May 28, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial of defendant Nguyen Vu Ngoc Linh (born 1985), residing in Nghi Hai ward, Cua Lo town, for the crime of "Fraudulent appropriation of property” and “Using fake documents of agencies and organizations”.

Nguyen Vu Ngoc Linh is the director of a construction company. In September 2015, Linh bought a Camry car and registered it under the company's name.

Around the beginning of 2018, due to needing money for business, Linh mortgaged the car to a bank to borrow money. A year later, Linh had paid off all the debt to the bank, but because the car was under the company's name and was still under guarantee for other debts, the bank had not returned the car registration to Linh.

Defendant Nguyen Vu Ngoc Linh. Photo: Tran Vu

At this time, Linh had the idea of making a fake car registration for use. Through the social network Facebook, Linh found the address and ordered a fake car registration like the real license plate of the company car. In early 2020, the bank returned the real car registration to Linh, so Linh now uses both car registrations.

In February 2020, due to needing money to pay off debt, Linh used the real registration of the Camry to mortgage at a bank to borrow 480 million VND. 1 month later, Linh took the fake registration of the car to a pawn shop in Vinh City, borrowing 600 million VND, for a term of 2 months.

When the debt payment deadline came but she had no money, Linh signed a contract to sell the car to the pawnbroker for 500 million VND.

On November 23, 2020, the pawnshop owner filed a complaint with the police agency denouncing Nguyen Vu Ngoc Linh's actions and voluntarily surrendered the above vehicle and related documents.

Three days later, Linh turned himself in to the police and confessed to his crime. The asset valuation council concluded that the Toyota Camry was worth 680 million VND.

At the trial, the defendant admitted to fraud and forgery. Linh said he committed the fraud due to debt pressure.

The People's Court sentenced Nguyen Vu Ngoc Linh to 7 years in prison for Fraudulent Appropriation of Property and 3 years in prison for Using Forged Documents of an Agency or Organization. The Court ordered the defendant to serve a total sentence of 10 years in prison.