Studied until 7th grade but impersonated police, lawyer, journalist to scam gullible people

On July 16, the Investigation Police Agency of Ba Ria City (Ba Ria - Vung Tau) announced that it had issued a notice to find victims in the case of "Fraudulent appropriation of property" that occurred in Kim Dinh ward by Mr. Tran Van Tri (47 years old, residing in Ham Thuan Bac district, Binh Thuan province).

Mr. Tran Van Tri was identified as using tricks to impersonate a police colonel, lawyer, and journalist to promise to find jobs for many people in Ba Ria - Vung Tau, then embezzled nearly 1 billion VND.

On July 8, Mr. Tri was arrested at a detention facility in Tran Phu ward, Quang Ngai city, and then extradited to Ba Ria - Vung Tau to serve the investigation.

According to the initial investigation, in July 2021, Ba Ria City Police received a criminal complaint from many people in Kim Dinh ward about Mr. Tran Van Tri's fraudulent appropriation of property.

Accordingly, Mr. Tri introduced himself as a police officer, lawyer, journalist, and overseas Vietnamese to take advantage of some acquaintances to establish Phat Tai Loc and Dai Phat Loc companies to gain trust from many people in Ba Ria city.

Taking advantage of the "hot" real estate market, Mr. Tri met and promised to help many people with land documents, land division and received a total amount of nearly 1 billion VND. However, Mr. Tri did not fulfill his promise and fled the area after receiving the money.

The Ba Ria City Police Department sent invitations many times but Mr. Tri did not show up for work, so they issued a wanted notice.

On July 8, Mr. Tri was discovered and arrested by Tran Phu Ward Police, Quang Ngai City, with 2 police uniforms with the rank of colonel, 1 pair of handcuffs, 1 fake gun and many documents, lawyer's degree, and journalist card under the name Tran Van Tri who was operating in the area.

Here, Mr. Tri confessed to using a similar impersonation trick to trick a resident in Quang Ngai City who wanted to apply for a job at an agency under the Ministry of Public Security in the Southern region, for 100 million VND, but was unsuccessful.

In addition, Mr. Tri confessed to having defrauded many people in Ba Ria - Vung Tau and Binh Thuan with a total amount of more than 7 billion VND.

Receiving suspect Tri from Quang Ngai City Police, Ba Ria City Police escorted the suspect to headquarters for questioning.

Through investigation, Tri admitted that he had only studied until grade 7, had no job, and all of his documents and degrees were fake. He himself did not have the ability to complete the procedures for land division and issuance of new land use right certificates, but he still made promises to get money from gullible people.

Currently, the Investigation Police Agency of Ba Ria City Police has prosecuted and temporarily detained Tran Van Tri for the act of "Fraudulent appropriation of property".

To serve the investigation and expand the case, the Investigation Police Agency of Ba Ria City Police requests that anyone who is a victim of Tran Van Tri urgently contact and provide records and documents to the unit to have their rights protected and resolved according to regulations.