Inter-provincial war invalids trafficking ring: Thousands of people fall into the trap

One day in early 2018, in a small house in Hamlet 1 (Hung Chau Commune, Hung Nguyen District), Mr. Le Van Thang said that over the past few years he had to go to the end of his rope, but until now, he had only been able to claim back half of the money he had spent to "run away" from the war invalids but was unsuccessful.

The 51-year-old man said that in 1986 he joined the army and fought in Cambodia. During his three years in the army, Mr. Thang confirmed that he “had an injury in the back of his head”. This injury was caused by a mine in a battle. “The injury was minor so at that time there was no examination and there was no document to prove it,” Mr. Thang said.

Therefore, in the years after his discharge from the army, Mr. Thang was not recognized as a war invalid to enjoy the regime and policies for people with meritorious services. In 2012, an old comrade living in Hung Thong commune whispered to him and invited him to "run" for war invalid status through Mr. Pham Van M. (63 years old, Nam Kim commune, Nam Dan).

The victims recounted how they were scammed. Photo: PV

After traveling dozens of kilometers to meet Mr. M.'s house, Mr. Thang was told by this person that he would first have to give 30 million VND and a set of documents proving that he had served in the army. After successfully receiving his disabled soldier card, Mr. Thang had to give another 10 million VND. With no money at home, Mr. Thang had to sell his breeding cow and several tons of rice to have enough 30 million VND to give to Mr. M.

About a week later, he and three others were taken by Mr. M. to Military Hospital 4 for examination. The examination process was very rudimentary, costing 200,000 VND and only taking about half an hour. It was called a “physical examination” but in reality these people were only given X-rays like other normal patients.

Like many others, after the examination, Mr. Thang did not have to do any additional procedures or meet anyone else. Impatient, he contacted Mr. M. many times but only received one appointment after another. “When I paid to become a war invalid, my two children were in school. They were impatient all day long asking me when they would be able to get their tuition fees reduced.

Until now, all the children have graduated and still have not received it,” Mr. Thang sighed. After losing faith in Mr. M., Mr. Thang repeatedly went to his house to ask for his money back. It was not until more than a year ago, after two trips, that he was finally returned 15 million VND by this “broker” of war invalids.

While Mr. Thang confirmed that he was really injured, another victim in this ring, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Chau (60 years old, Hung Chau commune, Hung Nguyen), admitted that he was not injured during his 6 years in the army. Mr. Chau enlisted in the army from 1977 to 1983 when he was discharged. Also "running" for wounded soldiers through "broker" Pham Van M., Mr. Chau has so far claimed 20 million VND, still lacking 10 million VND.

“I heard that many people who joined the army with me were able to get the disabled soldier benefits, so I borrowed money to do so,” Mr. Chau said. In September 2012, a friend told Mr. Pham Van M. that he could get the disabled soldier benefits, so Mr. Chau also brought 30 million VND to ask for help.

List of victims made by the 'henchmen' when collecting money. Photo: PV

“At first, I believed it because I heard that they had helped many people, but after I learned that Mr. M. was also a “broker” who received money and continued to receive it through another intermediary, Mr. Tung, I lost my faith.” The man named Tung that Mr. Chau mentioned was Ho Thanh Tung (60 years old, Hung Phu commune, Hung Nguyen), a person who often collected money from the “brokers” in this network and is now on the run. Mr. Chau said that he and Mr. Tung were comrades in arms and their houses were only a few kilometers apart.

After he gave the money to Mr. M., he also witnessed many other people coming to Mr. Tung's house to ask for their money back. "Seeing that, I immediately ran to Mr. M.'s house to ask for my money back, not to do it anymore. But after much haggling, he only gave me 20 million VND, and until now he hasn't said anything about the 10 million VND," said Mr. Chau.

Also a victim of this network, Mr. Nguyen Trung Thanh (63 years old, Hung Tien commune, Nam Dan), has so far only received 20 million VND compared to the 41 million VND he paid.

Mr. Thanh said that the reason he had to pay a larger amount than the average of 30 million VND in advance was because he had to go through a “low-level broker”, which required him to pay more money. Mr. Thanh joined the army in 1973, and after serving in the army for nearly 10 years, he was discharged. “In March 1975, I was an artillery soldier and was injured in a battle in Long Thanh (Dong Nai). After that battle, I had to stay in the hospital for a month,” Mr. Thanh said, adding that his name was still on the wounded soldier’s file at his unit, but because he did not have the means, he could not go in there to get his benefits. Meanwhile, the other documents he brought back were lost after house repairs. His name was not on the list at the district military command, so he had to get benefits through these people.

Confirmation of receipt of money for the file between the "henchman" and the boss of the network, Ta Thi Van. Photo: PV

In 2012, introduced by a friend in the same neighborhood, Mr. Thanh paid 41 million VND to Mr. Nguyen Nam Kh. (68 years old, Hung Nguyen town) to receive the war invalid regime. He said that this amount of money was contributed by his 4 children, each 10 million VND, hoping that their father would receive the war invalid regime. Like others, after being taken for a "physical examination", Mr. Thanh received a promise that he would receive a war invalid card after just over half a year. "I remember it was the end of 2012, after the examination, Mr. Kh. promised that by July 27 of the following year he would receive the war invalid card. But after that, several years passed without any news," Mr. Thanh said. Not only did he lose the money he paid, Mr. Thanh said that he and many others had spent a lot of money on gifts for Mr. Kh. during this time just to hope for the regime soon. According to the reporter's investigation, before retiring, Mr. Kh. was a lieutenant colonel serving in the army.

Mr. Thanh said that he felt guilty for introducing this “war invalids” scheme to some of his friends, causing them to lose money like him. One of them was Mr. Le Hai Nam, also living in Hung Tien commune. Mr. Nam died of cancer more than a year ago, and at the time of his death he had not yet received all the money he had spent. Mr. Nam had been drafted twice, fighting in both the southern battlefield and the northern border. His wife, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hien, said that after paying 41 million VND at the same time as Mr. Thanh, her husband also received similar promises.

However, after waiting for so long, her family gradually lost faith in the broker Nguyen Nam Kh. In 2015, Mr. Nam discovered he had cancer, so he went to Mr. Kh.'s house many times to ask for his money back.

“My husband came to my house and said he had cancer and didn’t have much longer to live, so he wanted to withdraw the money, but Mr. Kh. refused. He also said that my husband’s file was complete and everything was fine, and that if he died, his wife would receive the pension and insurance,” Ms. Hien said, tears in her eyes.

According to the veterans, the reason they have to go through these intermediaries is because if they go through the official channel, the procedures to make policies are still too cumbersome. Meanwhile, after decades, most of their documents have been lost. There are not enough regulations to enjoy the policies.

According to the reporter's investigation, about 1,200 victims paid money through 10 "henchmen" to get benefits in the "running" war invalids ring led by Ta Thi Van (56 years old, residing in Hung Binh ward, Vinh city), and Ho Thanh Tung (60 years old, Hung Phu commune, Hung Nguyen). On average, the "henchmen" received from the people from 30 to 35 million VND for each case and then gave it to Tung and Van. However, after receiving tens of billions of VND, Tung and Van immediately fled. The victims were mainly from Nghe An and Ha Tinh. In addition, some people even from Quang Tri, Quang Ninh, Lam Dong, Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc... also came here to contact "running" war invalids.

(To be continued)