The journey of escape and capture of the man who cheated him out of the disabled soldier regime

Deputy commune team leader cheated to "run" disabled soldier benefits and then went on the run

Hoang Van Hai (born in 1960), resident of Cong Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district, was formerly the deputy commune team leader of this commune. Around October 2007, after learning about the Party and State's policies on reviewing and establishing records for people with revolutionary contributions who had not yet enjoyed the prescribed regime, Hai devised a scenario to appropriate people's property.

Being a 4/4 disabled veteran and also a deputy commune team leader, Hai won the people's trust when he introduced himself as a disabled veteran, sick soldier, and person infected with Agent Orange. Hai said that anyone who wanted to apply for the policy should photocopy relevant documents and give them to him along with a sum of money to cover the "expenses". Hai promised that within 3-6 months, there would be a decision on the policy.

During the period from October 2007 to November 2013, to gain people's trust, Hai used a pre-existing policy decision, photocopied and erased some items and sent it to the victims. With the above trick, Hai appropriated more than 785 million VND from 45 victims from Yen Thanh, Nghia Dan, Nghi Loc districts, Thai Hoa town...

Defendant Hoang Van Hai at the trial. Photo: Tran Vu

For the victims, after a period of waiting without results, many people were worried. When they asked Hai, they received a notice that the case was "still in progress" or that results were coming soon. After receiving many empty promises, people began to have doubts and filed a police report.

On March 18, 2014, Yen Thanh District Police initiated a criminal case and prosecuted the defendant for fraud and property appropriation. However, the suspect quickly fled the area, so on May 18, 2014, Yen Thanh District Police issued a nationwide wanted notice for Hoang Van Hai to assist in the investigation.

Speaking of Hai, after leaving his wife and three children in his hometown, Hai went to a strange land in Dak Rung commune, Dak Song district (Dak Nong) to live. In an unfamiliar place, Hai made a living by butchering and selling pork, completely cutting off contact with his family.

At this time, Hai was 54 years old, but by hiding his past, Hai lived without a marriage certificate with a woman 20 years younger than him, who had been divorced once, and had a daughter. The two had another child together. When his wife's daughter went to Bien Hoa (Dong Nai) to attend a vocational college, Hai also quit his job as a "butcher" and went to Bien Hoa to work as a security guard at a pig farm. During his time on the run, Hai had time to make two more identity cards with the years of birth 1960 and 1962.

With that perfect cover, Hai always believed that he was safe. However, Hoang Van Hai's every move was always tracked by the PC10 detectives of Nghe An Police. After receiving information that Hai was in a province in the Central Highlands, the detectives went south to arrest the subject. On April 20, 2019, when the working group was in Bien Hoa, Hai went back to Dak Nong to visit his wife and children.

A detective said that it was difficult to identify a cunning person like Hai when the village had nearly 2,000 people, most of whom were from other places. Moreover, although he had 3 identity cards, Hai never registered or participated in any local activities, but his wife did.

However, by using professional measures, the arrest team identified the house where Hai was staying with his wife. But at this time, Hai seemed to sense that his whereabouts were being exposed, so he left the house and took a shortcut to Bien Hoa. On April 26, when Hai had just picked up his wife's stepchild from school and returned to the boarding house, Nghe An police arrested him. At this time, Hai still insisted that he was not the person with the background as stated in the wanted notice. However, faced with undeniable evidence, Hai bowed his head and confessed, ending his 5-year search.

Price

Recently, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a first-instance criminal trial of Hoang Van Hai for the crime of "Fraudulent appropriation of property". From early morning, many veterans and youth volunteers from Yen Thanh, Nghia Dan, Nghi Loc districts... were present at the provincial court to attend as victims. Many people expressed their indignation at the defendant's fraudulent behavior. One victim shared: just because we believed that Mr. Hai was a war invalid and also a deputy commune team leader, when we heard him mention that we could "run" the regime, we followed without any doubt, only to later realize that we had been deceived.

At the witness stand, Hoang Van Hai showed remorse and repentance, admitting his crime. The defendant said that because he owed a large amount of money and was unable to pay, he took a risk and "made up" a story about running errands for wounded soldiers to get money. It is known that before appearing in court, Hoang Van Hai had compensated the victims nearly 160 million VND. In his final words, the defendant apologized to the victims and hoped the panel of judges would reduce his sentence so that he could soon reintegrate into the community and do business to pay off his debts to the victims.

The panel of judges determined that the defendant's criminal behavior was dangerous to society and was an especially serious case. The defendant was reckless, using deceitful tricks for a long time, against many people, many times. The defendant's behavior not only violated the rights of others protected by law, but also affected people's lives, caused panic in society, and affected the reputation of competent agencies, especially agencies related to reviewing policies for people with meritorious services to the State.

If not discovered in time, the defendant may have defrauded many other people, so it is necessary to punish the defendant severely so that the defendant is aware of his actions. Considering the whole case, the court sentenced Hoang Van Hai to 12 years in prison for "Fraudulent appropriation of property". The court also ordered the defendant to compensate the entire amount of money he had appropriated from the victims.