Impersonating officials, appropriating money by tricking people into applying for jobs and exporting labor

From educated person to scammer

Nguyen Ky Linh (born in 1981), from Cam Binh commune, Cam Xuyen district (Ha Tinh), is an educated person. After graduating from university, Linh chose Vinh city (Nghe An) to start a career with many different jobs. Nguyen Ky Linh used to work in the training department of a technical secondary school. Later, Linh also established her own company to work, looking for opportunities to develop herself.

However, Linh's business was not as favorable as he expected. When the debts increased, instead of finding a way to "solve" the difficulties, this person chose to commit fraud.

Although he himself did not work at the Department of Education and Training of Nghe An province, did not know the leaders and some departments, agencies, and sectors, and was not able to get a job at a state agency, transfer schools, or "run" students into high schools, Nguyen Ky Linh lied that he could handle those things. Many victims, gullible, gave Linh money to help them get positions and into high schools.

In November 2022, after graduating from Vinh Pedagogical University, Ms. Le Thi KL (residing in Nam Dan district) had not found a job, so when an acquaintance introduced her, she contacted Nguyen Ky Linh to discuss asking for a position as an official teacher in Vinh City.

During the meeting on November 9, 2022, Linh introduced herself as an officer at the Nghe An Department of Education and Training and had many connections that could help her get a position. Because she trusted her, she gave Linh 150 million VND in advance along with her application for a position.

About 7 days later, Linh made an appointment with Ms. L. to go to the Vinh City People's Committee to submit her application for a job. But when they arrived, Linh told Ms. L. to stay outside the headquarters so that he could go in alone. A while later, Linh called Ms. L. to go home first so that he could take care of things for her. However, Linh did not meet anyone to take care of Ms. L.'s affairs, but waited for her to leave before leaving the premises of the Vinh City People's Committee.

On November 21, 2022, Linh called Ms. L. to request more money to complete the staffing procedures. The next morning, Ms. L. and her father met Linh at a coffee shop and gave her another 100 million VND. Linh received the money and promised Ms. L. that after Tet, there would be a staffing decision. However, after receiving the money, Nguyen Ky Linh did nothing to apply for a teacher position for Ms. L. but used the money to pay off debts and spend it all.

Previously, in March 2020, Nguyen Ky Linh also committed fraud against Ms. Thai Thi C. (born in 1989), residing in Nghi Loc district, Nghe An. During the meeting, Linh introduced herself as working in the training department of a technical economic college, having many social relationships, and being able to get Ms. C. a job as an accountant at Nghe An Mental Hospital for a cost of 380 million VND. Trusting her, Ms. C. later gave Linh 300 million VND in advance. However, after receiving the money, Linh did not do as promised but used it to pay off debts and personal expenses.

In addition to the above form of job fraud, Nguyen Ky Linh also appropriated money from people who wanted to go to work abroad. In October 2020, through an introduction, Mr. Dau Dinh H. (born in 1976), residing in Dien Chau district, Nghe An province, wanted to send his son to work abroad. At that time, Nguyen Ky Linh was the director of a company, now inactive, and made an appointment to meet Mr. H.

Through conversation, Linh promised Mr. H. that she would successfully send people to work abroad, at a cost of 12,000 USD (equivalent to 279 million VND). On October 23, 2020, after completing the paperwork, Mr. H. gave Linh 116 million VND to complete the procedures.

However, after receiving the money, Linh did not do as agreed but used it to pay off debts and personal expenses. Seeing that his son was not allowed to go abroad to work, Mr. H. urged him many times but Linh gave many different reasons and then did not return the money.

After paying the money but not receiving any notification from Linh about whether he had accepted the job or whether he had gone to work abroad, the victims asked for their money back, but he avoided them. After that, they filed a complaint against Nguyen Ky Linh for his fraud.

The investigation agency determined that from March 2020 to July 2023, Nguyen Ky Linh used many deceitful tricks to defraud many victims in Nghe An and Ha Tinh. The total amount of money that Linh defrauded from 8 victims was more than 1.28 billion VND.

At the recent trial of Nguyen Ky Linh for "Fraudulent appropriation of property", the defendant admitted his crime. The defendant said that because of business losses and heavy debts, he was unable to pay. "The pressure of debt caused the defendant to commit the crime," the defendant told the court.

The defendant stated that he felt remorseful for his repeated wrongdoings. He had repeatedly said “if only” he had stopped, things would not have gone as far as they have now. Now, when he has to appear in court, the defendant can only apologize to the victims and his relatives.

Tears of the parents

Sitting quietly in the courtroom, the defendant’s parents and younger brother repeatedly wiped away their tears. They were saddened and regretted Linh’s downfall. Before, Linh had been the pride and hope of the family.

The defendant’s mother choked up, although the family’s circumstances were not very good, they created conditions for their child to study and go to university. But after working, due to constantly chasing the real estate “surfing” wave, Linh got into debt. Because they loved their child, they had to lend Linh the family’s “red book” to take care of the business. But then, the grandparents lost their biggest asset, so now they have to rent a house.

Angry and blaming their child, they could not bear to leave her alone. After Linh was arrested, the family borrowed money to partially compensate the victims in the case.

Seeing her son in such a difficult situation, the thin, haggard mother continuously covered her face with her hands and cried. She regretted the son who had once been their pride and worried about the future of her family. In a choked voice, she advised her son to try to reform himself so that he could return to start a new life soon.

With many mitigating circumstances such as honest confession, repentance, influencing the family to partially compensate the victims, having a grandfather who was a martyr, and being awarded many Resistance Medals by the State, the panel sentenced defendant Nguyen Ky Linh to 8 years and 6 months in prison for the crime of "Fraudulent appropriation of property". Regarding the civil part, the court ordered the defendant to compensate the victims.

The trial ended. When they saw their child being escorted to the car, the grandparents quietly ran after him, giving him a few brief instructions. They said they would soon arrange to visit their child in prison after the trial. Having said that, they both quietly left the court, blending into the crowd on their old motorbike – carrying with them their silent sadness and fragile hope for their erring child.