The fake construction worker posing as a police officer was exposed through an illness.

The captain takes on the role of... debt collector!

More than a year has passed, but the victims of the scam perpetrated by Hoang Cong Loc (born in 1990), residing in Hung Loc commune, Vinh City, Nghe An province, still cannot understand why they blindly trusted him. Ms. L.T.T. (born in 1988), residing in Nhu Xuan district, Thanh Hoa province, is one of the victims in this fraud case. Believing Loc's promises, Ms. T. gathered over 1.3 billion VND, the entire savings of her and her husband, along with money her husband's parents had saved, but to date, she has only recovered nearly 200 million VND.

It is known that Ms. LTT was born and raised in Quynh Chau commune, Quynh Luu district, Nghe An province. After getting married, she moved with her husband to Thanh Hoa to start a new life. Ms. LTT has a younger sister, Ms. LTC (born in 1990), who is only two years younger than her. Because there are two sisters in the family, they often call each other to confide in each other about everything in life.

Around June 2022, Ms. LTC told her sister that she knew a man named Nguyen Hoang Viet Hieu (born in 1990) who worked at the Ministry of Public Security but, due to orders from his superiors, was being seconded to the Nghe An Provincial Police and held the position of Team Leader of the Criminal Police Team. Wanting to meet her friend, Ms. LTT repeatedly invited her friend to Thanh Hoa to visit.

Ms. C. had also brought Loc to her sister's house to visit many times. There, Hoang Cong Loc still introduced himself as Hieu, working at the Ministry of Public Security, currently assigned to the Nghe An Provincial Police, and claiming to have many connections in Nghe An and Thanh Hoa provinces, able to resolve many related matters.

Every time Loc visited LTT's house, he would invite five friends—Thang, Binh, Son, Huynh, and Tuyen—along with him. To impress his girlfriend's family, Loc instructed his friends to call him "boss," while he addressed them as "soldiers." Believing Loc was a real police officer, his friends addressed him as he instructed.

Hearing Loc's introduction, coupled with the fact that his friends called him "boss," Ms. LTT and her husband had no suspicions whatsoever. Knowing that her sister's boyfriend had extensive connections, Ms. LTT asked Loc to intervene to recover the money they had jointly contributed to buying an excavator with Mr. Kh. (in Nghia Loc commune, Nghia Dan district, Nghe An province). Loc agreed to help recover the debt and requested that Ms. LTT and her husband give him 75 million VND. Relieved, Ms. LTT immediately transferred 75 million VND to Loc without any written guarantee.

Furthermore, Ms. LTT and her husband continued to ask Loc to arrange the conversion of the land use purpose from garden land to residential land for the plot where they were living. Loc agreed, and to gain the trust of his girlfriend's sister and her husband, Loc pretended to go outside to get a phone call to discuss business, while simultaneously telling Ms. LTT that the conversion of the land would cost 1.2 billion VND.

Ms. LTT and her husband agreed, saying they would pay 200 million VND upfront, and the remaining amount would be paid when they received it.certificate of land use rightsThe remaining land will be handed over.

On September 14, 2022, Loc came to Ms. LTT's house saying he needed money to complete the procedures for changing the land use purpose. Loc promised to complete the procedures and receive the land use right certificate within a month. Ms. LTT and her husband gave Loc the remaining amount of over 1 billion VND without any written agreement.

After receiving the money, Loc did not contact anyone to get back the money that Ms. LTT's family had contributed to jointly purchase the excavator with Mr. Kh., nor did he raise the issue with anyone about converting the garden land to residential land. Loc used all of this money to buy two cars totaling over 800 million VND, and the remaining money was spent on personal expenses.

Revealing the truth through illness.

Around the same time, in early July 2022, through an introduction from Ms. LTT and her husband, Loc became acquainted with Mr. TQT (residing in Nhu Xuan district, Thanh Hoa province). After several meals together and hearing introductions from others, Mr. T. believed Loc was a real police officer and confided in Loc about being prosecuted for "Gambling" and "Violating regulations on road traffic safety," hoping for Loc's advice and assistance.

Seeing an opportunity, Loc immediately encouraged Mr. T. and promised that, due to their close relationship, he could show Mr. T. how to get acquitted. Loc told Mr. T. that, thanks to his job at the Ministry of Public Security, he had many connections that could help him avoid prosecution and trial. However, because it was at the central level, the cost would be quite high, but Loc guaranteed 100% acquittal.

Overjoyed, Mr. T immediately asked Loc for help, willing to pay any amount. To increase credibility, Loc messaged that he would be going to Hanoi for a few days to inquire about the matter and would then inform Mr. and Mrs. LTT. Exactly a few days later, Loc messaged Mrs. LTT to tell Mr. T that the cost of getting him acquitted was 2 billion VND because he was accused of two crimes. Trusting Mrs. LTT and her husband, Mr. T readily agreed and arranged to transfer the money.

On October 4, 2022, Mr. T. and his wife brought 2 billion VND to Ms. LTT's house to ask Loc to help them with their case. When handing over the money, Loc asked Ms. Th. to act as a guarantor and write a promissory note for the 2 billion VND from Mr. T. and his wife. Trusting her future brother-in-law, Ms. LTT agreed and wrote the promissory note, then gave the entire amount to Loc. Ms. LTT and her husband did not know how Loc used the money and did not benefit from it in any way.

After receiving the money, Loc did not contact anyone to help T. get acquitted, but instead used it to buy two cars for a total of over 1.1 billion VND and pay off a debt of 250 million VND to another person. The remaining money was used for personal expenses and given to LTT and her husband as a loan of 390 million VND to buy building materials for their house.

In early December 2022, Loc fell ill with a stomach-related disease and had to be hospitalized for treatment. During his treatment, Ms. LTT and her husband visited Loc. Through Loc's personal information and health insurance records from his hospital stay, Ms. LTT and her husband inadvertently discovered that their future brother-in-law, Nguyen Hoang Viet Hieu, who worked at the Ministry of Public Security, had "changed his name" to Hoang Cong Loc, declaring his occupation as a freelance worker. Shocked to realize they had been deceived all this time, Ms. LTT confronted Loc directly.

Knowing he could no longer conceal the truth, on December 22, 2022, Hoang Cong Loc went to the Nhu Xuan District Police Station (Thanh Hoa province) to surrender, confessing to all his crimes and handing over 20 million VND to mitigate the consequences.

When the curtain falls

In early March 2024, the People's Court of Thanh Hoa province held a first-instance trial to hear the case of Hoang Cong Loc (born in 1990, residing in Hung Loc commune, Vinh City, Nghe An province) on the charge of "Fraudulent appropriation of property".

It is known that Hoang Cong Loc was born into a family with four siblings. Due to difficult family circumstances, Loc only finished junior high school before dropping out to work as a laborer. In early 2022, through the introduction of some friends, Hoang Cong Loc went to Quynh Chau commune, Quynh Luu district (Nghe An province) to work as a construction worker. During his time working there, Loc became acquainted with Nguyen Huu Thang, Nguyen Huu Binh, Nguyen Van Son, Nguyen Ba Huynh, and Nguyen Huu Tuyen (all residing in Quynh Vinh commune, Hoang Mai town, Nghe An province).

To the aforementioned individuals, Loc introduced himself as Nguyen Hoang Viet Hieu, working at the Ministry of Public Security and now assigned to the Nghe An Police, which led the group to believe him. At the time Loc invited them to his girlfriend's house, the group of friends were completely unaware that Loc was deceiving LTT's family, and therefore he will not be held criminally responsible in this case.

At the trial, Hoang Cong Loc honestly confessed to his crime. The defendant's testimony was consistent with the victim's testimony and the evidence and documents in the case file.

According to the indictment from the Prosecutor's Office, driven by personal gain and a desire for money, Hoang Cong Loc committed fraudulent acts, providing false information to misappropriate the property of others. From August 18, 2022, to October 4, 2022, Loc misappropriated a total of 3.31 billion VND from T.'s family and her friend, after which he returned 390 million VND to T. and her husband.

The victims' representative at the trial stated: "We trusted Loc too much and blindly followed his instructions, leading to financial loss and suffering. Therefore, we hope the court will consider an appropriate sentence so that Loc is held accountable for his actions, and that he is responsible for compensating the victims for the money he received."

After a comprehensive review of the case, the panel of judges sentenced the defendant Hoang Cong Loc to 16 years in prison and ordered him to return the embezzled money to the victims.