Prosecution of subject who appropriated more than 800 million VND to trick people into entering university and studying abroad

On July 4, Colonel Cao Tien Mai, Head of the Investigation Police Department, Nam Dan District Police, said: The unit has issued a decision to prosecute the case and prosecute the accused Ho Thi Thu Ha (born in 1988), residing in Lam Son block, Nam Dan town, Nam Dan district, for the act of Fraudulent appropriation of property.

On May 31, Nam Dan District Police received a complaint from Ms. Vo Thi Suong (born in 1971), residing in Lam Son block, Nam Dan town, Nam Dan district, stating that Ms. Suong and Ms. Van Thi Thuy (born in 1964), both from the same locality, were defrauded of more than 800 million VND by Ho Thi Thu Ha (born in 1988), who are neighbors, through a broker to study at the Military Medical Academy, export labor and study abroad in Australia.

Nam Dan District Police took statement from suspect Ho Thi Thu Ha. Photo: Minh Thuy

Immediately after receiving the complaint, the District Police quickly proceeded to check and verify the content of the complaint, take statements from the victim and collect relevant information and documents. During the initial investigation, based on the collected documents and evidence, the Nam Dan District Police determined that the above-mentioned property fraud ring was led by Ho Thi Thu Ha. However, during the investigation of the case, although the District Police summoned and questioned many times to investigate and verify the relevant contents, the subject Ho Thi Thu Ha fled the locality.

Determined to solve the case and arrest the suspect to bring him to justice, Nam Dan District Police proactively coordinated with other local police units and professional units of the Provincial Police, contacted the police of provinces, cities, and locations where Ho Thi Thu Ha is suspected of hiding to verify and track down her whereabouts.

In addition, the district police force also regularly sent officers to the homes of the subject's relatives to persuade them to provide their hiding place if Ha contacted them. Thanks to the persistent implementation of synchronous measures, after a period of focused monitoring and understanding the situation, Nam Dan district police discovered that Ho Thi Thu Ha was present at the address: No. 128/9 Bui Huu Nghia Street, Ward 7, District 5, Ho Chi Minh City.

Immediately afterwards, a task force set off for Ho Chi Minh City to find the hiding place of Ho Thi Thu Ha. After nearly a week of continuous surveillance, at noon on June 25, 2018, when determining that the subject was present at her residence, the task force raided and arrested her. Due to being surrounded and arrested unexpectedly, Ho Thi Thu Ha could not escape in time, so the task force transferred the subject to the district police headquarters.

At the police station, in response to the victim's report and the evidence and documents collected, Ho Thi Thu Ha admitted her crime. Accordingly, because they were neighbors, Ho Thi Thu Ha knew and took advantage of the fact that Ms. Suong and Ms. Thuy were looking for opportunities for their children to study in universities and study abroad, so Ho Thi Thu Ha came up with the above scam.

After committing the crime and realizing that he would be reported, Ha quickly fled to Ho Chi Minh City to hide and avoid being arrested and prosecuted, but unexpectedly was discovered and quickly arrested by the Nam Dan District Police.