Woman in Nghe An Province Scam Hundreds of Millions of Dong by Offering 'Case-Canceling' Schemes

On March 4, 2022, the Criminal Police Department of Nghe An Provincial Police announced that it had issued a temporary detention order against Nguyen Thi Lien (born in 1973), residing in Do Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district, to investigate and clarify her actions.Fraudulent appropriation of property.

According to investigative documents, Nguyen Thi Lien is a very cunning individual with complex relationships with many criminal elements in the area; in 2006, Lien was sentenced by the Yen Thanh District People's Court to 42 months in prison for possessing and circulating counterfeit money; Lien's husband is also a drug trafficker currently serving a 20-year prison sentence.

The subject is Nguyen Thi Lien.

Recently, through intelligence gathering, the Criminal Police Department of Nghe An Provincial Police discovered that Lien frequently sought information on media channels about cases that had been cracked down on by the police or land disputes involving civil lawsuits in order to approach victims.

After approaching the victims, Lien introduced herself as someone who knew many high-ranking officials in the field of litigation and the court system, capable of "fixing" cases to get defendants released on bail or given suspended sentences, helping them win civil cases. In exchange for this agreement, the victims had to pay hundreds of millions of dong.

Using the above tactics, in late September 2021, Lien approached and deceived Vo Thi N. (born in 1993), residing in Yen Thanh district, who had just been sentenced to 5 years in prison by the Yen Thanh District People's Court for illegally possessing narcotics (currently out on bail awaiting execution of sentence because she was raising a young child), promising to help reduce her sentence from 5 years to 2 years, thereby appropriating 300 million VND from N.

However, in February 2022, the People's Court of Nghe An province held an appeal hearing for Vo Thi N.'s case. Since no new circumstances arose, the People's Court of Nghe An province upheld the 5-year sentence for N. Knowing she could not fulfill her initial promise to the victim, N. fled.

Nguyen Thi Lien at the police station. Photo: Hong Ngoc

After a period of surveillance, on the evening of February 24, 2022, the Criminal Investigation Department of the Nghe An Provincial Police discovered Lien hiding at her husband's house in Chau Phong commune, Quy Chau district. They conducted an urgent search of her residence and issued an emergency arrest warrant for Nguyen Thi Lien. During the search, they discovered and seized two mobile phones, two bank cards, and other related evidence. At the police station, Nguyen Thi Lien initially confessed to her crimes.

Currently, the Criminal Police Department of Nghe An Provincial Police is continuing to investigate and clarify the case. The police also warn the public and urge anyone who has been a victim of fraud involving the appropriation of property using the aforementioned method to report it to the police.