Prosecution of officials for swindling 5.3 billion VND in job placement

Abusing her position and power, a female officer of the Ethnic Minorities Committee claimed to have wide connections and defrauded dozens of people of about 5.3 billion VND.

On September 16, Colonel Vo Van Duong, Deputy Director of Quang Ngai Provincial Police, said that the investigation agency had initiated a case, prosecuted the accused, and banned Ms. Dinh Thi Ngoc Ha (52 years old) from leaving her place of residence to investigate the act of fraud and property appropriation. This female accused is a specialist of the Propaganda and Area Department, Quang Ngai Provincial Ethnic Minorities Committee.

Quang Ngai Provincial Police read the decision to prosecute Ms. Dinh Thi Ngoc Ha, an official of the provincial Ethnic Minorities Committee, for fraud and property appropriation. Photo: Provided by the Police.

"Taking advantage of her position and authority, claiming to have extensive connections with agencies and units in the province, Ms. Ha defrauded people of jobs, appropriating from tens of millions to 165 million VND in each case," said Mr. Duong.

Through the investigation, Quang Ngai Provincial Police determined that Ms. Ha had successfully carried out 33 fraud cases, appropriating more than 5.3 billion VND. Among the 33 cases of fraud, there was a victim in Binh Tri Commune (Binh Son District) who was tricked by Ha into "running a job" in the Tax Department in the period 2014-2015, appropriating 165 million VND.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Ho Van The, Head of the Ethnic Minorities Committee of Quang Ngai province, said that Ms. Ha had shown signs of abusing her authority and position to commit acts of fraud, loan sharking, etc. before starting work at the provincial Ethnic Minorities Committee (in 2013).

At that time, she was a teacher, working in the mountainous district of Son Ha. Due to insufficient evidence, the department did not prosecute this female officer. In early November 2016, a number of victims who had been defrauded and had their property appropriated by Ms. Ha gathered at the headquarters of the provincial Ethnic Minorities Committee to collect their debts.

Faced with this situation, the Party Committee of Quang Ngai Province's Ethnic Minorities Committee disciplined her by reducing her salary, expelling her from the Party, and then forcing her to quit her job.

According to Zing.vn