Interprovincial scheme to falsify disability certificates: Thousands 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 for the past few years he had traveled so far that he had worn out the roads and died, but so far, he had only managed to recover half of the money he had spent trying to "bribe" his way into becoming a war invalid, and without success.

The 51-year-old man recounted that in 1986 he enlisted in the army and fought in Cambodia. During his three years in the military, Mr. Thang asserted that he "suffered a wound to the back of his head." This wound was caused by a landmine during a battle. "It was a minor injury, so it wasn't examined at the time, and there are no documents 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 and therefore could not receive the benefits and policies for meritorious individuals. In 2012, a former comrade-in-arms residing in Hung Thong commune whispered to him, urging him to "arrange" for war invalid status through Mr. Pham Van M. (63 years old, Nam Kim commune, Nam Dan district).

The victims recounted how they were scammed. Photo: PV

After traveling dozens of kilometers to meet Mr. M., Mr. Thang was told that he would first have to pay 30 million dong and provide a set of documents proving his military service. After successfully obtaining the war veteran's card, Mr. Thang would have to pay another 10 million dong. Having no money, Mr. Thang had to sell his breeding cow and several tons of rice to raise the 30 million dong for Mr. M.

About a week later, he and three others were taken by Mr. M. to Military Hospital 4 for examination. The examination was very superficial, costing 200,000 dong in fees and lasting only about half an hour. It was called a "physical examination," but in reality, these people were only given X-rays like any other patient.

Like many others, after the examination, Mr. Thang didn't have to go through any further procedures or meet anyone else. Impatient, he contacted Mr. M. many times, but only received repeated promises. “When I paid the fee to become a war invalid, my two children were in school. They kept anxiously asking their father when they would be eligible for tuition fee exemptions.”

"Even now, after all my children have graduated, I still haven't received anything," Mr. Thang sighed. After losing faith in Mr. M., Mr. Thang repeatedly went to his house to demand his money back. It wasn't until more than a year ago, after two installments, that this veteran "broker" finally returned 15 million dong to him.

While Mr. Thang insists he was genuinely injured, another victim in this scheme, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Chau (60 years old, Hung Chau commune, Hung Nguyen district), admitted that he was never injured during his 6 years in the military. Mr. Chau enlisted in 1977 and was discharged in 1983. He also tried to obtain disability benefits through the middleman Pham Van M., and to date, Mr. Chau has recovered 20 million VND, with 10 million VND still outstanding.

"I heard that many people who served in the army with me had managed to get veteran status, so I borrowed money to do it," Mr. Chau recounted. In September 2012, after a friend told him that Mr. Pham Van M. could help him get veteran status, Mr. Chau brought 30 million dong to ask for his help.

The list of victims was compiled by the accomplices when collecting money. Photo: PV.

“At first, I believed them because I heard they had helped many people, but after learning that Mr. M. was also a ‘broker’ who received money and then went through another intermediary, Mr. Tung, I lost faith.” The man named Tung that Mr. Chau mentioned is Ho Thanh Tung (60 years old, Hung Phu commune, Hung Nguyen district), a person who often collected money from the “brokers” in this network and has now fled. Mr. Chau recounted 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 witnessed many other people coming to Mr. Tung's house to demand their money back. "Seeing that, I immediately ran to Mr. M.'s house to demand my money back and quit the job. But after much haggling, he only gave me 20 million dong, and I haven't heard anything about the remaining 10 million dong," Mr. Chau recounted.

Also a victim in this scheme, Mr. Nguyen Trung Thanh (63 years old, Hung Tien commune, Nam Dan district) has only received back 20 million VND out of the 41 million VND he initially paid.

Mr. Thanh said that the reason he had to pay a larger amount than the average of 30 million VND upfront was because he had to "go through" low-level intermediaries, which required him to pay more. Mr. Thanh enlisted in 1973 and was discharged after nearly 10 years of service. "In March 1975, I was an artillery soldier and was wounded 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 he couldn't retrieve it to claim his benefits. Meanwhile, other documents he brought home have been lost after house renovations. His name wasn't on the list at the district military headquarters either, so he had to go through these intermediaries to claim his benefits.

Receipt confirming receipt of payment for application processing between the "subordinate" and the ringleader, Ta Thi Van. Photo: PV.

In 2012, introduced by a neighbor, Mr. Thanh paid 41 million VND to Mr. Nguyen Nam Kh. (68 years old, Hung Nguyen town) to process his claim for war invalid status. He recounted that this money was contributed by his four children, each contributing 10 million VND, hoping their father would receive war invalid benefits. Like others, after undergoing a "physical examination," Mr. Thanh was promised a war invalid card in just over six months. "I remember it was the end of 2012. After the examination, Mr. Kh. promised I would have the card by July 27th of the following year. But then several years passed and nothing happened," Mr. Thanh said. Not only did he lose the money he paid, Mr. Thanh said that he and many others spent a considerable amount on gifts for Mr. Kh. during this time, all in the hope of receiving the benefits sooner. According to the reporter's investigation, before retiring, Mr. Kh. was a lieutenant colonel serving in the army.

Mr. Thanh said he felt guilty for introducing this scheme to "arrange" war veteran benefits to some friends, causing them to lose money like him. One of them was Mr. Le Hai Nam, also residing in Hung Tien commune. Mr. Nam passed away from cancer more than a year ago, and even at the time of his death, he had not received back all the money he had spent. Mr. Nam was a soldier who served twice, fighting in both the South and the North. His wife, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hien, recounted that after paying 41 million VND at the same time as Mr. Thanh, her husband also received similar promises.

However, after waiting for too long, the family gradually lost faith in the "broker" Nguyen Nam Kh. In 2015, Mr. Nam discovered he had cancer and repeatedly went to Mr. Kh.'s house to demand his money back.

“My husband came to my house saying he had cancer and didn’t have long to live, so he wanted to get his money back, but Mr. Kh. refused. He even said that my husband’s paperwork was already completed and everything was fine, and that if he died, his wife would still receive the survivor’s benefits and the insurance,” Mrs. Hien recounted, tears welling up in her eyes.

According to the veterans, the reason they had to go through these intermediaries was because the official procedures were too cumbersome. Meanwhile, after decades, most of their documents had been lost, and they no longer met the requirements to be eligible for benefits.

According to our investigation, approximately 1,200 victims paid money through 10 intermediaries to obtain disability benefits in a scheme led by Ta Thi Van (56 years old, residing in Hung Binh ward, Vinh City) and Ho Thanh Tung (60 years old, residing in Hung Phu commune, Hung Nguyen district). On average, the intermediaries received 30 to 35 million VND per application, which they then passed on to Tung and Van. However, after receiving tens of billions of VND, Tung and Van absconded. The victims were mainly from Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces. In addition, some people even came from Quang Tri, Quang Ninh, Lam Dong, Binh Duong, and Binh Phuoc provinces to contact them about obtaining disability benefits.

(To be continued)