Man sentenced to more than 7 years in prison for cheating on a sentence
Because he needed money to spend and invest in virtual currency, Dung lied that he could help reduce the sentence for Ms. T's son, thereby embezzling 600 million VND.
On May 28, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened the first instance trial of defendant Nguyen Tien Dung (born 1972), residing in Chuong Duong ward, Hanoi city, for the crime of "Fraudulent appropriation of property".
The indictment shows that Ms. Le Thi T. (born in 1958), residing in Mai Hung ward, Hoang Mai town (Nghe An), had her son arrested by Hanoi police for illegally transporting drugs. Worried about her son, Ms. T. sought connections to help “run” for a reduced sentence.
Through an acquaintance, Ms. T. knew Nguyen Tien Dung. This person told Ms. T. that Dung worked in the court and could contact her to request a reduced sentence for her son.
On August 17, 2022, Ms. T. met Dung at a coffee shop in Hanoi. Here, Ms. T. explained her son's situation and asked Dung to check the information to help reduce her son's sentence.
At this time, although not working in the prosecution industry, but because he needed money for personal expenses and virtual currency investment, Dung lied that he would help get information and could handle the sentence reduction at a cost of 600 million VND. Trusting her, from August 18 to 25, 2022, Ms. T. transferred 600 million VND to Dung.
Around October 2022, Ms. T. met Dung to ask about the situation of the sentence reduction for her son. At this time, Dung replied that it was not possible to do so, so Ms. T. asked for the money back. However, because he had spent all the money, Dung did not return it to Ms. T.
After her son was sentenced to death by the Hanoi People's Court for illegally transporting drugs, on January 13, 2024, Ms. T. filed a complaint with the police. Four days later, Nguyen Tien Dung was urgently arrested by Nghe An police.
At the trial, the defendant admitted to the crime of defrauding the victim to reduce his sentence in order to get money to spend, and expressed remorse. Before the trial took place, the defendant had urged the victim’s family to compensate the victim in full. The victim asked the court to reduce the defendant’s sentence.
After a comprehensive review of the case, the People's Court sentenced Nguyen Tien Dung to 7 years and 6 months in prison for fraud and appropriation of property.
