A man in Nghe An province defrauded people by promising to take them to the US and then stole their money.
(Baonghean.vn) - A man boasted about his ability to arrange for people to live and work in the US, defrauding a young woman of nearly 700 million VND.
On September 30th, in Nghe An province, the Hanoi High People's Court opened an appeal trial to hear the case against defendant Le Dinh Chinh (born in 1984), residing in Hung Tay commune, Hung Nguyen district, for the crime of "Fraudulent appropriation of property". The trial was opened due to the defendant's appeal.
According to the initial judgment, in September 2019, Chinh met Ms. HTTN (born in 1983, residing in Lang Son) in Dak Lak province and introduced his family, stating that they had two children residing and studying in the United States. Chinh himself frequently traveled between Vietnam and the US and claimed to be able to arrange for people to study and live in the US.
Hearing Chính's explanation, Ms. N. asked him to handle the procedures for her two children to immigrate to the United States. At this point, Chính conceived the idea of seizing Ms. N.'s assets and agreed.
 |
Defendant Le Dinh Chinh in court. Photo: Tran Vu |
Chinh told Ms. N. that the cost of going to the US was $32,000 (equivalent to 742 million VND); at the same time, Chinh provided false information about processing the necessary documents for those in need. Trusting him, from September 23 to November 6, 2019, Ms. N. transferred 476 million VND to Chinh.
Later, wanting to live with her child, Ms. N. asked Chinh to handle the procedures for her to travel to the US as a tourist. Chinh agreed and quoted a fee. Trusting him, Ms. N. transferred over 221 million VND to Chinh.
After receiving the money from Ms. N., Chinh spent it all on personal expenses. When Ms. N. called to urge him to return the money, Chinh gave various excuses and did not return the money or the documents to Ms. N. On April 23, 2021, Ms. N. reported Chinh's criminal behavior to the police. On the same day, Chinh surrendered to the police.
The trial court sentenced defendant Le Dinh Chinh to 13 years in prison for fraud and misappropriation of property; the defendant was also ordered to return the stolen money to the victim.
Subsequently, the defendant filed an appeal requesting a reduction in sentence. At the appellate court, Chinh stated that, after the initial trial, he had influenced his family to fully compensate the victim for all damages.
However, the defendant's family only provided valid documentation for the 100 million VND transferred via bank. The nearly 500 million VND sent directly to Ms. N. lacked confirmation from the local authorities.
The appellate court acknowledged the defendant's proactive compensation of 100 million VND to the victim and therefore accepted the defendant's appeal. The court amended the first-instance sentence from 13 years to 12 years and 6 months imprisonment for the crime of "Fraudulent appropriation of property".
