The Fugitive Father's Day of Atonement and the Tears of His Children
(Baonghean.vn) - After 20 years of being on the run in Laos, former life insurance employee Hoang Trung was arrested for his involvement in a property embezzlement case. On the day of his trial, Trung continuously cried because of his past mistakes that indirectly pushed his young children, who were already living without a mother, into a helpless situation.
Confession of an Embezzler
One day at the end of May, the trial of the “Asset Embezzlement” case involving defendant Hoang Trung (46 years old), residing in Hoa Hieu ward, Thai Hoa town took place at the People’s Court of Nghe An province. With a small figure, Trung quietly walked into the courtroom, and from below, the sobbing of his relatives could be heard.
The case in which Trung committed the crime occurred more than 20 years ago. If this man had not fled but had faced the law, Trung would have probably finished serving his prison sentence by now. However, because of his escape, this defendant has only now appeared in court.
Regarding Trung's criminal behavior, the case file shows that in 2003, Hoang Trung was an accountant and cashier for a transaction office of a large insurance company with a branch in Nghe An.
Within 22 days, from February 6, 2003 to February 28, 2003, Trung took advantage of his position and authority, did not complete the procedures to deposit money into the company account but left the money in the unit's safe, thereby appropriating more than 570 million VND from the life insurance company. Trung gambled the money he appropriated in the form ofsoccer betting, sent it back to his parents and lost some money for unknown reasons.
When the deficit was more than half a billion VND, Hoang Trung fled. Afterwards, the Investigation Police Department issued a wanted notice for Hoang Trung for embezzlement. In October 2023, the Nghe An Provincial Police Department coordinated with the representative agency of the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam in Laos to arrest Hoang Trung and extradite him back to Vietnam.
In court, Trung admitted his crime and expressed remorse. The defendant confessed that he was worried after discovering that some of the money he was entrusted to manage was missing. He then took the company’s money to gamble on football with the intention of making money to make up for the lost money, but the more he played, the more he lost.
Out of fear, the defendant fled to Laos to live. In a foreign country, as a newcomer, the defendant lived in hiding in remote residential areas. During the period of hiding, Trung cut off contact with his relatives to avoid detection and arrest by the authorities.
Three years later, he got married to a local woman. Because he had no identity papers, Trung just lived together without registering his marriage with his wife. However, they welcomed three children, the eldest born in 2006 and the youngest in 2019.
After a long time living together, in 2021, Trung's unmarried marriage fell apart when his wife left her husband and children to follow a new love. At that time, Trung's youngest child was only 2 years old.
Tears when meeting the child in court
During the course of answering questions at the trial, Trung shed tears many times, and cried out loud when someone mentioned his three children. “After my wife left me, the four of us built a small house to take care of each other. Since I was arrested, my children have been left alone, and I have been worried about their lives…”, the defendant choked up.
Because his wife took all his property and he himself had no job, Trung struggled to raise his children. The most pitiful thing was that the youngest child had to live in poverty when his parents "broke up". Luckily, his eldest daughter understood, loved her father and younger siblings, and helped Trung manage the household. Trung's arrest was a psychological shock to the three children. After their mother left and their father was arrested, the eldest daughter became the material and spiritual support for her two younger siblings.
Attending the trial, the defendant’s relatives choked up as they shared that since Trung was arrested, the three siblings have been living together in a small house on the edge of the forest. Knowing that the children have to live in hardship and deprivation, their relatives in Vietnam have not been able to bring them back to the country to care for them due to issues with their papers and nationality.
Worried and concerned about his children, in his final words before the court deliberated, the defendant choked up and expressed his hope that the Trial Council would consider reducing his sentence so that he could soon return home to take care of his three young children and rebuild his life.
During the court session, Hoang Trung was allowed to return to talk remotely with his family sitting a few rows away. The conversation between Trung and his two children was in Lao, no one understood what they were saying, only tears were seen on the three faces. Relatives who witnessed it also choked up and wiped away their tears.
The reunion between Trung and his children was interrupted when the jury came to work. For a crime committed more than 20 years ago, Hoang Trung was sentenced to 7 years in prison.
Hearing his sentence, Trung's eyes filled with tears once again. Before being escorted home, Trung turned back to look at and wave goodbye to his children. Hopefully, with his repentance and realization of his mistakes, the father of three will reform well and soon be able to return to take care of and raise his children.
