Long-term rental fraud to illegally sell apartments

Pretending to rent the apartment long-term, when he got a copy of the documents, Hung organized to forge the documents under his name, selling them at a cheap price for 800 million VND.

On January 16, Hanoi People's Court opened the first instance trial of Tran Viet Hung (35 years old, in Chuong My, Hanoi) for fraud and property appropriation.

The verdict determined that in early 2013, Tran Viet Hung and Nguyen Trung Thanh (35 years old, both living in Chuong My) discussed renting a house and then forging ownership documents to fraudulently sell it. As assigned, Hung found a house to rent, while Thanh was responsible for forging the documents.

Knowing that a man in Hoang Mai district wanted to rent out his apartment, Hung signed a contract for 6 million VND per month. Hung paid 3 months in advance, asked to take pictures of the house papers, and told the landlord that he was renting it to his boss's son, so if anyone asked, he should say that this was his house.

With the information he had, three days later, Thanh had forged the house documents and the sales contract under Hung's name. The apartment was fraudulently sold to Mr. Nguyen Duc Van for a cheap price of 800 million VND.

During the transaction with Mr. Van, Hung also paid the landlord an additional 6 months of rent. By mid-2014, when he knew that the fraudulent transaction was at risk of being exposed, Hung made an appointment with the landlord to rent for 3 more months and then fled with Thanh.

Mr. Van completed the procedures to sell the apartment he bought from Hung and then realized he had been scammed. In early April 2016, Hung was arrested by the Ho Chi Minh City Police.

In court today, Hung stated that at the time he and Thanh committed the crime, he was deeply in debt due to wasteful spending. Of the money he took from Mr. Van, the defendant only received more than 100 million VND, with Thanh keeping the rest. However, this suspect is still on the run.

Considering the defendant's behavior as particularly serious, the Hanoi People's Court sentenced Hung to 14 years in prison for fraud and property appropriation, and ordered him to compensate Mr. Van 800 million VND./.

According to VNE