Miss Tuyet Nga was proposed to be sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The People's Procuracy maintains its stance on prosecuting Ms. Truong Thi Tuyet Nga for fraud and appropriation of tens of billions of dong from victims and recommends a sentence of 18-20 years in prison.

On July 25, Ho Chi Minh City People's Court continued the trial of Ms. Truong Thi Tuyet Nga (55 years old, director of Vu Lan Construction Investment Company Limited) for the crime of Fraudulent appropriation of property.

Speaking about the case, the People's Procuracy stated that from October 2007 to early 2008, Ms. Nga hired someone to design a high-end apartment complex - office tower project on a land area of ​​35,000 m2 in Binh Khanh Ward, District 2. Because this land belongs to the Thu Thiem station planning area, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee issued a document directing not to allow the transfer or construction. However, Ms. Nga still advertised the project for sale to many people.

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Through the land transfer contract, Ms. Nga repeatedly received 3.1 million USD in deposits from Ms. Linh and then appropriated it. During that time, after transferring more than 30,000 square meters of land in District 2 to Ms. Linh, Ms. Nga continued to use nearly 3,000 square meters of the above-mentioned land area to transfer to Mr. Muoi and appropriated 1.5 billion VND. After authorizing Mr. Muoi, Ms. Nga continued to mortgage this land to the bank to borrow 131 billion VND.

"The defendant's behavior is dangerous to society and must be severely punished," the representative of the People's Procuracy stated and proposed that the panel of judges sentence Ms. Nga to 18-20 years in prison.

Defending his client, lawyer Bui Quang Nghiem said that Ms. Nga did not appropriate property from Mr. Muoi or Ms. Linh.

According to the lawyer, the land sale relationship between Ms. Nga, Mr. Muoi and Ms. Linh is a civil relationship. In case of any dispute between the parties, it must be resolved in court through a civil lawsuit. Whether Ms. Nga will return the money or not depends on the court's decision after the judgment comes into effect.

Regarding the accusation that Ms. Nga appropriated 1.5 billion VND from Mr. Muoi, lawyer Nghiem said that in fact, Mr. Muoi was the one who helped Ms. Nga collect land from people to sell and was paid nearly 3,000m2 (equivalent to 10%). Ms. Nga and Mr. Muoi contacted the People's Committee of District 2 to transfer the name, but because this land was in the planning area, it could not be transferred. Ms. Nga then authorized Mr. Muoi to have full authority over this area.

According to the lawyer, Ms. Nga's act of taking more than 11,000 square meters of land in this area, including the land area that she authorized Mr. Muoi to mortgage to the bank for a loan of 131 billion VND, was a "mistake". After discovering this, Ms. Nga contacted the bank to add other mortgaged assets, replacing Mr. Muoi's land area and asked the bank to create conditions for Mr. Muoi to separate this land area. Due to being arrested immediately afterwards, Ms. Nga was unable to carry out the next procedures, while the bank said it would wait until the mortgaged assets were liquidated before handing them over to Mr. Muoi.

Regarding the accusation of appropriating Ms. Linh’s money, lawyer Nghiem said that the records show that when participating in the divorce case of Ms. Nga and her husband (as a person with related rights and obligations), Ms. Linh only asked for 1.5 million USD. However, the investigation process as well as the indictment showing that Ms. Nga received 3.1 million USD is incorrect.

"Ms. Linh did not pay the money according to the contract, so Ms. Nga did not return the deposit. If Ms. Linh wants to get it back, she must file a civil lawsuit in court," said Mr. Nghiem.

Defending herself, the 2009 Miss Universe asserted that she had absolutely not defrauded the victims. “The fraud was that I did not have the land and sold it, but in reality, the defendant’s land is still there and it is entirely possible to return it to the victims,” said Ms. Nga.

Protecting Ms. Linh’s legal rights and interests, the lawyer disagreed with Ms. Nga’s defense. He said that the money transfer was stated in the agreements and memorandums. Ms. Nga’s receipt of 3.1 million USD from Ms. Linh was completely justified.

According to VNE