Having lost a bet on a football match but lacking the money to pay, Sy used the phone number of the female owner of a karaoke bar to text her, demanding one billion dong, threatening to blow up the bar and kill her if she didn't comply.

On October 27th, the Hai Chau District Police (Da Nang) announced that they are temporarily detaining Nguyen Van Sy (27 years old, residing in Hoa Tien commune, Hoa Vang district, Da Nang) to investigate the crime of extortion.

Nguyen Van Sy at the police station. Photo: D.X.

According to the investigation, Sy lost a large sum of money gambling but was unable to repay the debt. Because he had previously been sent by the telecommunications company where he worked to install computers at a karaoke bar in Hai Chau district, Sy had the mobile phone number of the bar's female owner.

On October 21st, Sy bought several disposable SIM cards and repeatedly sent text messages to the female owner of the karaoke bar, demanding one billion VND, threatening to beat her child, blow up the bar, and kill her at her home if she didn't comply.

The female owner of the shop negotiated the amount down to 500 million VND, which Sy agreed to. Sy also agreed to receive 20 million VND every two days until the full amount of half a billion VND was reached. The victim then secretly reported the incident to the police.

On the afternoon of October 26th, at a cafe on Nguyen Du Street (Hai Chau District), Sy appeared to receive the money but was arrested by the police.

According to VNE