Borrowed someone else's motorbike and pawned it to get money to pay off debt

On November 7, Tan Ky District People's Court opened a criminal trial against Ho Minh Truyen (born in 1979, residing in Hanh Phong hamlet, Nghia Hoan commune, Tan Ky district) for the crime of "Abuse of trust to appropriate property".

Around the beginning of July 2019, Truyen went to meet Ms. Tran Thi Nga (born in 1972, residing in Tan Yen hamlet, Tan Phu commune) to borrow an industrial welding machine to go to work.

Defendant Ho Minh Truyen in court. Photo: Phuong Hao

On July 10, Ms. Nga hired Truyen to construct and build a coffee shop. Truyen continued to borrow from her a Honda Wave Alpha motorbike with license plate 37N1-235.58, owned by Ms. Nga, to go home and go to work in Giai Xuan commune, Tan Ky district.

On July 11, because he needed money to pay off his debt, Truyen pawned his motorbike for 5.4 million VND. Truyen used all of this money to pay off his debt.

Unable to get her motorbike back, Ms. Nga filed a complaint against Truyen with the Tan Ky District Police Department. On September 12, realizing that his actions were illegal, Ho Minh Truyen surrendered to the Tan Ky District Police.

The Tan Ky District Property Valuation Council concluded that Ms. Nga’s motorbike was worth 10.8 million VND at the time it was mortgaged. As for the welding machine, Truyen asked a relative to return it to Ms. Nga.

At the investigation agency, Ho Minh Truyen confessed to all his crimes. Truyen had previously been sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended, twice for "Gambling" (criminal record not yet cleared) and theft.

At the end of the trial, the panel sentenced Truyen to 2 years in prison.