Fraudulently appropriating billions, 'land broker' gets 14 years in prison

On June 14, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened a trial for defendant Tran Ngoc Thuong (37 years old), residing in Dong Vinh Ward, Vinh City, for the crime of Fraudulent appropriation of property.

Due to needing money to pay debts and spend, from August 2020 to May 2022, Tran Ngoc Thuong committed 6 acts of fraud against 6 victims, appropriating nearly 1.8 billion VND.

Defendant Tran Ngoc Thuong. Photo: Tran Vu

The investigation agency determined that Thuong used many tricks such as receiving a deposit to transfer a land plot that he did not own, without the land user's authorization to transfer; knowing that he was not capable of issuing a "red book" but still received money and promised to do so.

In addition, Thuong also used debt collection to appropriate other people's money. In nearly 2 years, Thuong defrauded many victims, appropriating nearly 1.8 billion VND. The person who was defrauded the most was 500 million VND, the person who was defrauded the least was 100 million VND.

At the trial, the defendant admitted all his crimes. Thuong said he thought of the fraud because he was in debt.

Regarding the act of land fraud, the defendant confessed that because he was a “land broker”, he knew many people. After creating trust, the defendant fraudulently sold the land to receive a deposit even though the land did not belong to the defendant.

Regarding the method, Thuong confessed that he had downloaded the image of the land use right certificate of this land plot from a real estate group and sent it to the buyer via phone. Because of his subjectivity, many people had put down a deposit to buy the land for Thuong.

The defendant used the money to pay off debts, spend personally, and invest in virtual currency. Before the trial, the defendant had pressured the victims’ families to compensate them 400 million VND.

It is known that Thuong was tried twice for robbery and property robbery.

The panel of judges determined that the defendant’s actions were dangerous to society, that the defendant had committed the crime twice or more, and that the victim was over 70 years old, which were aggravating circumstances. However, the defendant also had mitigating circumstances such as his honest confession, remorse, and partial compensation for the victim.

Considering the case as a whole, the court sentenced Tran Ngoc Thuong to 14 years in prison. Regarding the civil part, the defendant was forced to compensate all damages to the victims./.