Nghe An: Arresting another 'gangster' of inter-provincial war invalid trafficking ring

On October 30, a source from the Office of the Investigation Police Agency (Nghe An Police) said that this unit has just prosecuted and temporarily detained Nguyen Phuc Hong (64 years old, residing in Hamlet 1, Nam Thai Commune, Nam Dan District) for the crime of "Fraudulent appropriation of property".

Mr. Hong is one of the effective "henchmen" in the inter-provincial "trafficking" ring of war invalids that Nghe An Newspaper reported in a series of articles in early 2018.

Nguyen Phuc Hong (left) photo taken in early 2018.

The war invalids “running” ring led by Ta Thi Van (residing in Hung Binh ward, Vinh city) operated from around 2012 to the end of 2014. Through about 10 “henchmen” in the two provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh, this ring received tens of billions of dong from people across the country to “run” the regime and then “disappeared without a trace”.

According to an investigation by Nghe An Newspaper reporters, there are more than 1,200 victims of this network. Each file of “running” for war invalids costs an average of 30 million VND.

To gain trust, the “henchmen” let people know that they know many people who work on policies from the central to local levels; they can “run” to upgrade the rank of war invalids, war invalids, and Agent Orange victims. Believing them, many war veterans gathered their documents and money to meet…

After paying the full amount, these veterans were taken by their "henchmen" to undergo a cursory examination at several hospitals in Vinh City and promised that "after 6 months to 1 year, they will begin to enjoy the regime".

Among those “henchmen”, Nguyen Phuc Hong proved to be the most “effective”. In a short time, he received more than 260 files from people. For each file of “running” for war invalids, Mr. Hong took an average of 30 million VND from the people but kept more than 8 million VND in difference, pocketing billions of VND…

After waiting for many years but not seeing the promised policies, many people turned to the "henchmen" to demand their money back. Under this pressure, the ringleaders fled one by one.

During the investigation, currently, in addition to Mr. Hong, Nghe An Police have also arrested Ta Thi Van and Ho Thanh Tung (60 years old, Hung Phu commune, Hung Nguyen district) - another "gangster boss" after a long time on the run.

This case is still under further investigation. Through Nghe An Newspaper, the authorities inform anyone who is a victim related to the fraud by Nguyen Phuc Hong to go directly to the Office of the Investigation Police Agency, Nghe An Provincial Police. Address: Le Nin Avenue, Hamlet 7, Nghi Phu Commune, Vinh City, or contact directly with investigator Pham Thanh Hai at 0932.345.256 for verification and clarification.