Phuong Nga's lawyer requests to suspend the case

With the collected evidence, the lawyer affirmed that Phuong Nga was wrongly convicted and requested the prosecution agency to suspend the investigation.

In a nearly 60-page document, lawyer Nguyen Van Du - defending Truong Ho Phuong Nga on charges of defrauding Mr. Cao Toan My of 16.5 billion VND - said that there was a series of evidence proving that Miss Vietnam in Russia 2007 and her friend Nguyen Duc Thuy Dung were wrongly accused. From there, he proposed to suspend the investigation of the case and suspend the investigation of the two defendants.

According to the lawyer, the nature of the relationship between Mr. My (identified as the victim in the case) and Phuong Nga was sexual, as proven through the testimonies of Nga, Dung, Lu Minh Nghia (Dung's boyfriend) and collected evidence.

From April 2012 to December 2013, on average, the two people traveled domestically or internationally once or twice a month. They stayed at hotels and resorts together; sometimes they rented two rooms, sometimes they shared a room. The romantic emails that were spread online were very appropriate to the circumstances, real experiences, and feelings of the two people.

Lawyer Du and Phuong Nga on the day she was released on bail. Photo: Quynh Tran.

Regarding the amount of 16.544 billion VND that Nga received, Mr. Du said that it could be considered money "for buying a house" or "gifted" according to a love agreement. However, the evidence collected about the love relationship proved that this amount of money was not money for buying a house.

Furthermore, there were sums of money that Mr. My transferred to Dung's account, which Mr. My said was to buy a house, coinciding with the day he and Nga were traveling together and staying at the same hotel.

"Therefore, the nature of this amount is the money Mr. My gave to Russia under the 2-year agreement of 6 billion, then increased to 7 years of 16 billion, not 16.5 or 16.544 billion as there is a difference in the file. Because 500 million VND was given by Mr. My outside the agreement, 44 million VND was given by Mr. My to Russia for personal expenses during the time the two of them traveled to the Maldives," the lawyer analyzed.

In addition, Mr. My also transferred the remaining 20 million to Dung's account - also money for Nga to spend when he could not meet and give directly.

The lawyer also said that the receipt of 16.5 billion VND was written, signed, and fingerprinted on November 4, 2013, with the content that Phuong Nga received to buy a house to help Mr. My (Nga claimed that she was controlled and forced to sign) appeared after the time Mr. My accused (for the first time) Nga and Dung of borrowing money to open a Spa and not paying it back.

The documents on the house purchase agreement, money transfer, payment... were proven to be "made after Mr. My's second accusation" of the house purchase fraud. "There are documents with the time and place of writing coinciding with the day Nga and Mr. My were traveling together elsewhere or had just returned from a trip for a day. Or a few days after writing the documents, the two continued traveling and rented a hotel to stay together," the petition stated.

Regarding Ms. Nguyen Mai Phuong (identified as a witness in the case), through the testimony of Nga, Dung, Lu Minh Nghia, Phuong Nga's mother... it shows her role in the collusion as well as "having a special relationship" with Mr. My. Meanwhile, in court, she stated that she "only knew Mr. My through the press during the trial".

According to lawyer Du, the condition for the crime of Fraudulent appropriation of property is that "the fraudulent act must have occurred before receiving the money". However, the evidence shows that the house purchase documents were all forged after Mr. My's accusation and about a year after the receipt of the money ended. From that, there is enough basis to conclude that Nga and Dung did not commit fraud to appropriate property.

"The court's request for additional investigation is unnecessary, because the documents and evidence are sufficient to prove that the prosecution was wrongful. Other requests for additional investigation related to the responsibility of the prosecutor and prison officers should be separated into another case," said lawyer Du.

Speaking to reporters, Prosecutor Duong Thuy Kim Ngan (HCM City People's Procuracy) said that the prosecution agency's decision to suspend the investigation of the case and the defendant "is based on real objective material evidence in the case file". This evidence is consistent with the statements of the defendant, the accused and the witnesses...

It is the lawyer's right for Phuong Nga's lawyer to request the suspension of the investigation of his client. If the request is based on objective evidence consistent with the testimony of the witnesses, the prosecution agency will refer to it along with the results of the independent investigation and verification... and then make a decision.

After more than two years in detention to investigate allegations of fraud, Nga and Dung were released on bail by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court on June 29./.

According to VNE