Former police major prosecuted for fraud has sentence reduced by 1 year

According to the indictment of the People's Procuracy of Nghe An province, Hien was formerly an officer at Prison Camp No. 6 - Ministry of Public Security (located in Thanh Chuong district) and then transferred to work at the Political Affairs Department (Nghe An Provincial Police). Before being prosecuted, Hien had left the army.

Defendant Nguyen Dai Hien. Photo: Khanh An

Before 2014, due to borrowing from many people and not being able to pay, in order to have money to pay off the debt as well as spend, Hien used fake documents (photocopies) of police leaders at all levels to create a medical examination at Nghe An Provincial Police Hospital to gain the trust of the victims and then receive money for job placement. Hien received money from many people but did not apply for anyone and made a commitment to the victims to get the decision to go to work on the day.

From 2014 to June 2016, Hien defrauded 8 victims in Nghe An and Ha Tinh, with a total amount of more than 3.2 billion VND.

Of which, Hien appropriated 600 million VND from Ms. Nguyen Thi Van, 90 million VND from Ms. Tran Thi Thom, 452 million VND from Mr. Nguyen Thai Duong, 800 million VND from Ms. Nguyen Thi Bich Loan, 164 million VND from Mr. Bui Tuan Phuc, 500 million VND from Ms. Cu Thi Thanh Hien, 465 million VND from Mr. Le Anh Thoi, and 200 million VND from Mr. Le Ngoc Hung.

On the morning of March 15, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a criminal trial, sentenced Hien to 15 years in prison for fraud and property appropriation and forced Hien to return the money he had appropriated.

Then, Hien appealed to the appellate court, claiming that the case had missed criminals and asked for a reduced sentence. The victims also appealed to the appellate court, requesting that the missed criminals be considered.

At the trial, defendant Hien maintained his appeal. The victims continued to claim that the case had missed out on a criminal, Tran Thi Phuong Chi (residing in Vinh City).

However, through the appeal trial and deliberation, the panel of judges determined: Defendant Hien's appeal for a reduction in sentence was well-founded because his father had contributed to the revolution, the defendant had confessed honestly, repented, had many achievements in his work, and had partially redressed the victim. Regarding the appeal of the case where the criminal Tran Thi Phuong Chi was still at large, the panel of judges of the appeal said that if defendant Hien and the victims saw signs of a crime, they had the right to continue to file a complaint to the police investigation agency and the People's Procuracy of Nghe An province to denounce the criminal act.

At the end of the trial, the appellate panel accepted part of the defendant Hien's appeal, did not accept the victim's appeal, amended the first instance judgment, and reduced the defendant Hien's sentence from 15 years in prison to 14 years in prison for fraud and appropriation of property.