A belated apology from a former land office employee.

Fraudulent tactics of land office branch employees

Nguyen Quang Truong (30 years old), residing in Dong Hop commune, Quy Hop district, was a contract employee at the Land Cadastral Technical Department, Quy Hop District Branch of the Land Registration Office from April 1, 2021 to October 2022. Truong was assigned the task of assisting in extracting and supplementing cadastral surveys of land parcels, updating cadastral records, and performing other tasks assigned by superiors.

After working for a short time, starting in April 2021, Truong was asked by many people in Dong Hop commune and some neighboring communes to handle procedures related to...landAfter completing the procedures and receiving the land ownership certificate, people usually "bribe" the school with 5 to 10 million VND.

Around September 2021, due to losses from online gambling, Truong conceived the idea of ​​committing fraud. Truong's scheme involved receiving money from people and promising to handle land-related procedures such as splitting land titles, issuing land ownership certificates, and changing land use purposes. However, after receiving the money, he used it for online gambling.

For example, around the end of October 2021, trusting that Truong, who worked at the Land Registration Office branch in Quy Hop district, could handle the procedures for obtaining land use right certificates, Mr. Hoang Van T. asked this official to issue "red certificates" for 3 plots of land.

After the exchange, Mr. T transferred 95 million VND to Truong's account, of which 30 million VND was for taxes, fees, and Truong's service fee, and the remaining amount was for procedures to change the land use purpose and obtain the land title certificate. However, after receiving the money, Truong used it to gamble online without completing the necessary procedures for Mr. T.

Using similar tactics, Truong also defrauded Mr. Nguyen Xuan H. (born in 1978, residing in Tam Hop commune) of 50 million VND. Around the beginning of September 2022, trusting Truong's work, Mr. H. asked him to handle the procedures for changing his land use right certificate (from red to pink certificate), converting the land use purpose from perennial crop land to residential land. Truong told Mr. H. that these procedures would cost 100 million VND and promised to complete them within two months.

Trusting him, on September 10, 2022, Mr. H. transferred 50 million VND to Truong. Truong used the money to gamble online without completing any land-related procedures for Mr. H.

Investigators determined that from November 2021 to October 6, 2022, Nguyen Quang Truong abused his position to receive money for land-related procedures, embezzling over 2.8 billion VND from 39 people.

On October 6, 2022, the Nghe An Provincial Land Registration Office terminated Nguyen Quang Truong's employment contract. However, Truong concealed his resignation to continue receiving money and processing land-related procedures, defrauding 20 people and appropriating nearly 1.1 billion VND. Thus, the total amount of money Nguyen Quang Truong defrauded and misappropriated from victims through abuse of trust is nearly 4 billion VND.

For the aforementioned offenses, Nguyen Quang Truong was prosecuted and brought to trial on two charges: Fraudulent appropriation of property and Abuse of power to appropriate property.

A belated apology

At the recent trial, the defendant Truong admitted to the crimes as charged in the indictment. He testified that initially he helped some people successfully complete land-related procedures. Later, due to losses from online gambling and cryptocurrency trading, he committed fraud in an attempt to recoup his losses. However, the more he gambled, the more he lost, leading to his inability to repay his debts.

In addition, the defendant also claimed to have invested some money in land plots through "speculative trading," but later lost a significant amount due to forfeiting the deposits. However, the defendant failed to provide any evidence to support this claim.

The defendant stated in court that after the incident came to light, his family sold some assets to "save" him, but they have not yet fully repaid the debt. He explained to the judges that his parents are elderly and unable to do heavy work, and the family's finances are depleted. The defendant stated that he is currently unable to repay the victims and promised to gradually repay them after his release from prison.

In his final statement before the court adjourned for deliberation, defendant Truong apologized to his former workplace for his fraudulent actions that had affected the unit and those involved. He also apologized to his family and the victims in the case. Mentioning his family, especially his parents, the defendant bowed his head, showing remorse…

Truong is the youngest of three siblings. He was given a good education and a job many people dream of, but his addiction to gambling and online card games led him deeper and deeper into wrongdoing. By the time he realized his mistake, Truong had lost everything: his family, his job, his money, and most importantly, his honor. The defendant understood that with such a large sum of money, his relatives would find it difficult to repay the victims. Therefore, at the trial, the defendant apologized to the victims and asked for a chance to repay the debt gradually.

Dozens of defendants attended the trial that day, all looking dejected. The tens of millions, even hundreds of millions of dong they had given to Truong were enormous sums for people living in mountainous areas like them. Due to a lack of understanding and a reluctance to go through the procedures related to land ownership, they had been cheated out of their savings accumulated over many years. Therefore, everyone hoped to recover their money as soon as possible.

Following the trial, the court determined that the defendant's actions were dangerous to society, violated the law, and involved defrauding others of their money. After a comprehensive review of the case, the panel of judges sentenced Nguyen Quang Truong to 15 years in prison for abuse of power and authority to appropriate property; and 10 years in prison for fraud and appropriation of property. The total sentence for the defendant is 25 years in prison.

Driven by greed and an addiction to gambling, Truong spiraled into wrongdoing. Now, the former land office employee faces a 25-year prison sentence and the loss of his youth and prime years in prison. His remorse and apologies at the trial came too late. The sentence serves as a lesson for anyone lost in gambling: know when to stop before it's too late.