The 'evaporated' journey of 12 billion VND in 'love fees'

Portrait of "beauty" U50

Dao Thi Mong Thuong (born in 1978), residing in Vinh Thoi commune, Lai Vung district, Dong Thap province, was born into a family of 7 siblings. Her family life was difficult, her father died early, so after 9th grade, Thuong dropped out of school to work far from home.

Thuong had a criminal record for gambling, had no stable job, and was registered to marry a foreign man, but no one in the village knew who Thuong's husband was, and had never been seen in the area.

At the police investigation agency, Dao Thi Mong Thuong confessed that around the beginning of 2019, Thuong used social networks to join groups to look for prey. Through a Facebook group, Thuong met Mr. H. (from Vinh City). This man works in the construction field, often does charity work, loves Buddhism and likes to write poetry.

It is known that at that time, Thuong introduced herself as Dao Ngoc Minh (25 years old), Vietnamese father, Hong Kong mother, currently living and studying in Canada. Thuong created a personal Facebook named "Ngoc Tinh" and regularly posted many edited photos of herself when she was young, along with some online photos showing "check-in" at famous places, using luxury branded items to make Mr. H. believe that she was the daughter of a well-off family.

Not only that, appealing to personal interests, Thuong also often used online poetry to exchange poems with Mr. H., so "Ngoc Minh" gradually won his sympathy.

To prove himself, when he learned that Mr. H. was preparing to go on a charity trip to the highlands, Minh immediately transferred 20 million VND to "help those in difficult circumstances".

During this time, Mr. H.'s relationship with his wife began to crack. Therefore, the actions that Ngoc Minh showed made Mr. H. feel as if he had found a soul mate, sympathetic, understanding and always listening to him.

When the "prey" gradually fell into the love trap, Thuong created many Facebook accounts, pretending to be Ngoc Minh's relative and confiding in Mr. H. To avoid suspicion, in the beginning of their relationship, Thuong did not mention money, only talked about life, love...

Gradually, the relationship between the two people who had never met before took a step forward, when the overseas Vietnamese woman admitted to being Mr. H's lover. And from then on, Mr. H. did not expect that he had completely "fallen" into the trap that Mong Thuong had arranged in a sophisticated and secretive way.

Tricks hiding behind love

After about half a year, when they saw love was "ripe", Thuong started to plan.appropriation of propertyof her lover. At first, the woman lied that she wanted to borrow billions to invest in a project, even though her parents were well off, she did not ask for help because she wanted to be independent. At first, Mr. H. seemed suspicious and did not lend her money. But after being persuaded by Thuong many times, this person agreed.

In addition, Thuong also used the excuse that Ngoc Minh needed money to complete inheritance procedures many times, so that Mr. H. could transfer money to Ngoc Minh through the accounts provided by Thuong, from which Thuong appropriated this money. With the above reason, Mr. H. transferred to Thuong 7 times with a total amount of 883 million VND.

Not only that, Thuong also pretended to be Ngoc Minh who was going to Italy, to Hong Kong and was in dire need of money to process paperwork to go to Canada. For this reason, Mr. H. transferred money to Ngoc Minh 20 times with a total amount of nearly 4.9 billion VND.

To build trust, when Mr. H. needed to do business, Ngoc Minh was a "solid supporter", transferring more than 2.5 billion VND to Mr. H. Not to mention, Thuong also bought many valuable gifts, diamonds worth more than 400 million VND to give to Mr. H. on special occasions.

During the money transfer, Thuong pretended to be Dao Ngoc Minh and forced Mr. H. to transfer money with the words "gift for Ngoc Minh; gift for beloved wife,...", to prevent being discovered and reported.

From September 19, 2019 to April 27, 2022, Dao Thi Mong Thuong gave many reasons to commit fraud and appropriate property with the amount of money appropriated being nearly 12.3 billion VND.

On April 27, 2022, Mr. H. was suspicious so he made an appointment to meet Ngoc Minh's "foster sister", Mong Thuong, at a luxury hotel in Da Nang. Here, when calling Zalo created under the name Ngoc Minh, Mr. H. discovered that this account was used by Thuong. At this time, the man was shocked to discover that his lover was not real and he himself was deceived by Mong Thuong.

Last meeting wish

On the morning of May 10, 2024, after a lengthy deliberation, the People's Court of Nghe An province sentenced defendant Dao Thi Mong Thuong (born 1978), residing in Vinh Thoi commune, Lai Vung district, Dong Thap province, to life in prison for the crime of "Fraudulent appropriation of property".

The trial of Dao Thi Mong Thuong was postponed once because the defendant requested to meet and confront Mr. H., but this man was not present and requested to be tried in absentia. The defendant said that she wanted to meet Mr. H. one last time because since his arrest until now, she has not had the opportunity to meet him to explain the reason clearly.

At the trial, Mong Thuong did not admit to the accusation of fraud and property appropriation, but said that this money was a "love expense" that Mr. H. actively gave.

The defendant also admitted that Mr. H. and the defendant knew each other, met many times, and traveled together, not that they did not know each other as the victim claimed. Thuong also presented evidence such as text messages sent by Mr. H. during money transfer transactions with the content "give, give to Ngoc Minh, give to Mong Thuong, give to my beloved wife, give a gift...", to prove that the money transfer was voluntary.

However, the authorities have proven that the money transfer contents were recorded at Thuong's request. This was Thuong's trick to avoid Mr. H. denouncing him.

Regarding the times the two sides arranged to meet, Mr. H's representative confirmed that Ngoc Minh repeatedly used the excuse of urgent work and suspected Mr. H of deceiving him to avoid showing up.

Authorities determined that Dao Thi Mong Thuong used deceitful tricks to defraud Mr. H. of more than 12 billion VND. Of which, this woman spent more than 6 billion VND to buy diamonds, gold, precious stones..., lent her brother 4 billion VND, and used more than 2.7 billion VND for travel and personal expenses.

During the course of the act, Thuong transferred nearly 3 billion VND to Mr. H. including gifts and business investments. The defendant must bear criminal responsibility for the amount of money embezzled, more than 9 billion VND. During the investigation, Thuong's brother returned to Mr. H. 4 billion VND that he had previously borrowed from Thuong. The victim requested Thuong to compensate more than 5 billion VND.

The trial panel determined that through the investigation, questioning, and public debate at the trial, there was sufficient basis to affirm that the People's Procuracy of Nghe An province prosecuted the defendant for fraud and property appropriation with the right person and the right crime...