Nghe An: A land registration file shows many signs of forgery.

From the story of the two bamboo groves

According to Mr. NHT (originally from Long Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district, currently residing in Ho Chi Minh City): His family owns two bamboo groves located on land designated as LNK (other long-term land) in Dien Yen hamlet, Long Thanh commune, and has been using them for a long time.

Mr. T. reported: In 2021, when I returned to my hometown, I approached the Land Registration Office of Yen Thanh District to request the legalization of the aforementioned area for the purpose of building an ancestral temple.

Some time later, around mid-June 2023, his younger brother in his hometown, seeing several families dumping soil in the area, thought his family also had a bamboo grove inherited from their father and therefore dumped several truckloads of soil to create a suitable environment. At the same time, the family of Mr. NHD (also residing in Dien Yen hamlet, Long Thanh commune) also dumped soil. However, the Long Thanh Commune People's Committee subsequently suspended both families from doing so.

According to Mr. T., at the meeting to resolve land violations on June 14, 2023, Mr. D. claimed that the two bamboo clumps were located on his family's land and requested that my family cut them down.

To ensure compliance with legal procedures, on June 15, 2023, Mr. T.'s family submitted an application to the Long Thanh Commune People's Committee requesting permission to purchase the area containing the two bamboo groves mentioned above. However, the Long Thanh Commune People's Committee subsequently responded in writing that the area was not yet zoned for residential development.

It was thought that since the application for legalization had failed, Mr. Trong's family would continue using the two bamboo clumps as they had done for many years. However, on December 17, 2023, Mr. NHD's family sent people to cut down one of the bamboo clumps.

On December 17, 2023, Mr. T.'s family filed a complaint with the Long Thanh Commune People's Committee regarding Mr. D.'s family having someone cut down the bamboo grove. On December 20, 2023, the Long Thanh Commune People's Committee held a meeting between the parties to resolve the bamboo grove cutting issue. At this meeting to resolve the bamboo grove dispute, Mr. T.'s family was stunned to receive information from the Long Thanh Commune People's Committee that the area containing the two bamboo groves had long been granted a land ownership certificate to Mr. Nguyen Hong Due's family.

Outraged that their family's bamboo grove had been included in Mr. Duệ's family's land title, Mr. Trọng's family repeatedly submitted petitions to the Yên Thành District People's Committee in 2023. Dissatisfied with the local authorities' responses, Mr. Trọng received a document from the Yên Thành District People's Committee instructing him to file a lawsuit with the Court to resolve the dispute.

By March 15, 2024, Mr. Trong's family had officially filed a petition to prevent transactions related to the disputed land, and also requested that the remaining bamboo grove be preserved in its current state.

However, on the morning of April 18, 2025, while the Nghe An Provincial People's Court was summoning all parties for questioning and Mr. Trong's family had just requested to withdraw their complaint and transfer the case to the police investigation agency, Mr. Due's family brought in machinery to flatten the remaining bamboo grove.

The documents show signs of being forged.

According to Mr. T., the reason he submitted the request to transfer the case to the police investigation agency was because, after learning that Mr. D.'s family had been granted a land ownership certificate covering both of his family's bamboo groves, he requested to examine the aforementioned land records.

"Surprisingly, the land title application file for Mr. D.'s family shows many signs of forgery, having been created in 2015 under the pretext of correcting boundaries and adjusting land codes for many plots of land belonging to surrounding households. Subsequently, this file was used by the Yen Thanh District People's Committee to issue a land title certificate with the number CB 067884 on August 4, 2015, for an area of ​​450m²."²"By 2022, Mr. D. had divided the land into two plots for his two children," Mr. T. said.

Based on the information provided by Mr. T., we (the reporters) went directly to the Yen Thanh District Land Registration Office branch and requested access to the initial land registration file of Mr. NHD.

Upon examining the file, we found a receipt dated April 30, 1995 (a public holiday and a Sunday), stating only the reason for payment as "land purchase fee" for 400,000 VND. Furthermore, there was only one signature in the treasurer's section, without a full name. There were no other signatures from the unit head, chief accountant, the person who prepared the form, or the person who paid.

This file also includes an Application for Land Use Right Certificate dated July 15, 2015, bearing the signature and confirmation of Le Cong Dau - Chairman of the Long Thanh Commune People's Committee. However, it is noteworthy that at this time, Mr. Dau was no longer the Chairman of the Long Thanh Commune People's Committee; the position was held by Mr. Doan Ngoc Ha (who was approved as the Chairman of the Long Thanh Commune People's Committee in the by-election on May 20, 2015).

Furthermore, this file also contains many documents suspected of being forged, such as the minutes of the Long Thanh Commune Land Registration Council meeting dated July 15, 2015, which also lists the title of Chairman of the Commune People's Committee Le Cong Dau as Chairman of the Council. In addition, many of the council members' signatures are photocopies, not original signatures. Even Ms. Hoang Thi Quynh's signature appears in these minutes with the title of Chairwoman of the Women's Association, but at that time, Ms. Quynh had already transferred to the position of Deputy Secretary of the Long Thanh Commune Party Committee.

Furthermore, many documents were poorly prepared, such as: the boundary demarcation record for the land plot lacked the signatures of the neighboring households; the submission from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Yen Thanh district (dating back to 2015) lacked a number and clear date; the community opinion survey form was dated November 15, 2015 (after the land title certificate had been issued); and the minutes concluding the public posting and the notification regarding the review and issuance of the land use right certificate had the year erased to "201...".

Even the application for correction and adjustment of the land classification code stated that plot number 2423 belonging to Mr. NHD's family was formed from parts of plots numbered: 1058, 1054, 1067, 1059, 1062, and 1056. However, looking at the map, the plots are far apart. For example, plot 1067 is separated by an entire concrete road.

Most notably, the person who checked and signed the confirmation that the application for a land use right certificate was valid, and dated July 21, 2015, was NHM, an employee at the Yen Thanh District Land Registration Office Branch, and also the son of Mr. NHD.

By 2022, Mr. NHD's original plot of land had been divided into two plots for his two sons, NHM and NVL.

Working with us, Mr. Tran Trung Hieu - Deputy Director of the Land Registration Office Branch in Yen Thanh District - was also "surprised" by this set of documents. He admitted that in his most recent response to the Nghe An Provincial People's Court on March 28, 2025, when authorized by the Department of Agriculture and Environment, he only confirmed the land subdivision (i.e., when NHD's land was divided for his son).

Clearly, the land use right certificate issued to Mr. NHD in 2015 is highly questionable and appears to have been forged. How did it manage to deceive the relevant authorities? This is a matter that urgently needs clarification.