Using fake grenade to rob bank in Cua Lo town, man gets 8 years in prison

On the morning of June 28, the People's Court of Cua Lo Town opened the first instance trial of defendant Dinh Khuong Linh (born 1986), residing in Nghi Lien Commune, Vinh City (Nghe An) for the crime of "Robbery".

According to case records, at around 11:00 a.m. on February 1, 2024, Dinh Khuong Linh drove a black Yamaha Sirius motorbike with license plate number 37B2-133.38 from Vinh City to Cua Lo.

At 3:00 p.m. the same day, when passing the Transaction Office of the Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade - Vietinbank Cua Lo, seeing that there were no people, Linh took advantage of the loophole and had the intention of robbing the property.

After changing the license plate number and taking out a knife from the trunk and a fake yellow plastic grenade from his pocket, Linh parked the car in front and entered the transaction room.

Here, Linh used a fake grenade and shouted "robbery", "put the money in quickly, robbery, put the money in the bag quickly, quickly" causing the bank employees and customers who were transacting at the bank to panic and run away. Linh continuously pointed the fake grenade towards the inside of transaction counter number 02 to threaten, continuously urging the bank employees to put the money in the bag.

After robbing the money, Linh drove away. At 5 p.m. the same day, Linh returned home and counted the amount of money he had stolen, which was 46 million VND. Then, Dinh Khuong Linh took gloves, a mask, a knife, and a fake plastic grenade, put them in a bag, and threw them into a garbage truck along the road.

Linh used more than 12 million of the embezzled money to top up her game account and used the rest for personal expenses.

At the trial, the defendant stated that he only drove to Cua Lo with the purpose of selling ornamental plants, but because he saw that the transaction office was deserted, he had the intention of robbing. All the items such as knives and outer jackets were used for planting trees, and the fake license plate was used for shoveling and digging the soil. The defendant also stated that he “picked up” the fake plastic grenade on the road.

It is known that the defendant had been punished for fraud and misappropriation of property and was given a warning for intentionally damaging property. In addition, on this day 20 years ago (June 28, 2004), defendant Khuong Dinh Linh was sentenced to 3 months in prison for the crime ofabuse of trust to appropriate property.

The defendant himself mobilized his family to compensate the transaction office with 46 million VND. Considering the case as a whole, the panel of judges decided to sentence defendant Khuong Dinh Linh to 8 years in prison for robbery.