Fraudulently appropriating nearly 7 billion VND, sentenced to 10 years in prison

On the morning of May 27, after many days of deliberation, the People's Court of Nghe An province sentenced Hoang Thi Long (born 1956), residing in Le Loi ward, Vinh city, to 10 years in prison for "Fraudulent appropriation of property". The defendant has completed the sentence.

Regarding the civil part, the defendant is required to return all the money he has appropriated from the victims. As for the money appropriated from the mortgage of the Land Use Rights Registration Certificate (red book) to the bank, to ensure the rights of all parties, the court decided to separate it into another civil case.

According to the case file, between February 2010 and November 2011, taking advantage of her acquaintance with relatives, by means of borrowing money to trade in construction materials, offering interest rates much higher than banks, Hoang Thi Long appropriated 6,765 billion VND from 9 victims.

Defendant Hoang Thi Long at trial. Photo: Tran Vu

Specifically, in early 2010, Long repeatedly met with Ms. Ly Thi Mai Phuong, resident of Quan Bau ward, Vinh city, to discuss borrowing money to trade in construction materials with an interest rate of 1.4 - 2.4%/month. Ms. Phuong agreed to lend Long more than 1 billion VND. At first, Long paid the interest to the lender, but later delayed and cheated. Fearful, Ms. Phuong repeatedly asked for the principal back, but Long was only able to pay 150 million VND. Long declared bankruptcy and was unable to pay the remaining amount.

Also in the same form, from April 2011 to November 2011, Long repeatedly met Ms. Vo Thi Thanh Huong to discuss borrowing money to overturn the bank deed, believing that this victim had lent Long more than 1.1 billion VND.

Long also borrowed from Hoang Van Minh many times with different interest rates, depending on the time. The highest interest rate Long promised to pay this man was 9% for the amount of 200 million VND. However, up to the time of his arrest, Long had not yet paid this loan to Mr. Minh.

Not only did she borrow money, Hoang Thi Long also asked to borrow the Land Use Rights Certificate to mortgage it at the bank to get money. Because of their acquaintance, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy, a resident of Hung Nguyen district, agreed to lend Long the red book to mortgage at the bank to get 1.4 billion VND. Similarly, Long borrowed the red book of Mr. Hoang Nghia Hong and his wife to mortgage at the bank to get 1.7 billion VND.

For the above behavior, in 2013, Nghe An Provincial People's Court sentenced Hoang Thi Long to 10 years in prison for "Fraudulent appropriation of property". This case was then tried by the Supreme Court, finding that the first instance court violated the procedure and did not clarify the responsibilities of those involved in the case, including the bank where Long mortgaged the property to borrow money, so the investigation agency decided to return the file and reinvestigate.

At this trial, Hoang Thi Long admitted to the crime as stated in the indictment. Long said that due to business losses and needing money for business, she borrowed money from the victims. At the court, the victims asked Hoang Thi Long to return the money she had embezzled.

Considering the case comprehensively, the People's Court sentenced Hoang Thi Long to the above sentence.