Impersonating police, demanding protection money for sidewalk businesses

(Baonghean.vn) - Tuan used 2 phones, pretended to have many voices, and introduced himself as a police officer, who could protect the store to do business on the sidewalk. Within 4 days, Tuan received nearly 10 million VND from a store.

On the evening of October 4, the Vinh City Police Department caught Tran Van Tuan (born in 1984, residing in Hamlet 19, Nghi Phu Commune, Vinh City) red-handed while receiving money from a barber shop on Le Loi Street, Vinh City. Tuan was accused of fraud and property appropriation.

Subject Tran Van Tuan. Photo: PB

Previously, at around 6:00 p.m. on October 4, Lieutenant Colonel Thai Manh Hung - Captain of the Public Order Police Team received a report that a subject impersonating Lieutenant Colonel Hung was providing protection for a sidewalk barber shop on Le Loi Street, Vinh City.

The Public Order Police team planned to verify and arrest the subject. At around 10:30 p.m., at the barber shop, a subject came on a motorbike and received money from the shop owner but was caught red-handed by the police.

At the police station, the suspect confessed to being Tran Van Tuan (born in 1984, residing in Hamlet 19, Nghi Phu Commune, Vinh City). Initially, Tuan confessed that from September 30 until his arrest, he impersonated a police officer, claiming to be able to protect businesses on the sidewalk in order to extort money from a store.

On the night of September 30, Tuan called Mr. Dinh Van Duy - the owner of the barber shop, introducing himself as Mr. Hung, Captain of the Public Order Police Team of Vinh City Police. Tuan said he could protect the shop owner so that he could do business on the sidewalk.

“To gain the shop owner’s trust, Tuan made an appointment to come to Le Van Tam Street (near Vinh City Police Headquarters) at 11 p.m. to receive the money. Tuan chose a dark corner to hide his face and then received 4 million VND,” said Major Phan Hien, Deputy Head of the Public Order Police Team.

The next day, Tuan used a different phone number, pretended to be Mr. Long, a provincial police officer, and continued to call the barber shop owner. Tuan said that he was a higher-ranking officer so he could take care of the shop owner. This time, the shop owner did not suspect anything and continued to give Tuan 2 million VND at a coffee shop near Vinh City General Hospital.

Police took the suspect's statement. Photo: PB

Not stopping there, the next day Tuan pretended to be Lieutenant Colonel Hung and called the shop owner to say that his wife had an accident and wanted to borrow 5 million to pay for hospital bills. To avoid being discovered, Tuan said he was busy and would ask someone else to come to the shop to get the money. Tuan rode another motorbike, wearing a mask so that the shop owner would not recognize him and then took the 2 million that the shop owner gave him.

Seeing that it was easy to fool, on the evening of October 4, Tuan continued to pretend to be Lieutenant Colonel Hung and called to instruct the barber shop owner to submit an application to the People's Committee of Le Loi Ward to obtain a sidewalk business license. To make the shop owner trust him, Tuan said that the total cost was 2 million 650 VND and that when collecting the money, there would be a receipt, and at the same time, he promised to come and receive the money at 9:30 pm. When Tuan had just received the money, he was arrested by the police.

“Initially, the agency determined that Tuan was the only one who carried out this scam scenario. The subject clearly understood the Team’s operating rules and the people’s psychology of wanting to circumvent the law to commit fraud,” said Lieutenant Colonel Hung.

After making the initial records, the Public Order Police Team handed over the subject and the records to the Vinh City Police General Investigation Team to continue verifying and clarifying the incident. "It is not impossible that the subject has also defrauded many other businesses," said Major Phan Hien.

Nguyen Hung