The virtual 'transportation company' and the real price of greed.
Having previously worked as a truck driver, Le Quang Vu (35 years old, residing in Da Nang City) understood the demand for goods transportation and conceived the idea of committing fraud. Impersonating a transportation company, Vu used the internet to offer transportation services, ultimately stealing goods from businesses in various provinces and cities. Two consecutive scams totaling nearly 800 million VND brought him a heavy price for his greed and dishonesty.
Scams involving impersonating shipping companies to steal property.
Le Quang Vu (35 years old), residing in Son Tra ward, Da Nang city, previously worked as a truck driver. Therefore, he was aware of the demand for goods transportation services from many shop owners. With the intention of committing fraud, Vu impersonated a transportation company to accept delivery requests from those in need, and then misappropriated the money.
To carry out his scheme, Le Quang Vu searched on Facebook for posts seeking goods transportation services. After chatting, Vu agreed on a price with the goods owner to arrange transportation. Once the client provided the delivery address, Vu would hire a transportation company to pick up the goods and then sell them for profit. Using this method, Vu committed fraud twice.
On August 7, 2024, Le Quang Vu joined a social media group looking for transportation services and saw a post by Ms. Hoang Thi Diem H. (an accountant at a company in Dong Hoi City, former Quang Binh province). According to the post, the company was looking for a transport company to ship 3 rolls of color-coated cold-rolled steel from Hoang Mai town (formerly), Nghe An province to Dong Hoi City (formerly).
Le Quang Vu contacted Ms. H. to arrange the transportation of the goods, and she agreed to hire him for 3.6 million VND. Trusting him, Ms. H. added Vu on Zalo and sent him the location of the sheet metal factory and the phone number of the warehouse owner.
After finding a "target," Vu contacted a scrap metal buyer in Thai Nguyen (formerly) to sell the three rolls of corrugated iron. Once he found a buyer, Vu contacted another transportation company in Hanoi to hire them to transport the goods. Unaware that the corrugated iron was obtained illegally, the transportation company agreed to transport the goods for 7 million dong.
On the afternoon of August 8th, Le Quang Vu went to a corrugated iron warehouse in Hoang Mai town (formerly) to meet a driver from a transportation company. After completing the warehouse release procedures, Vu instructed the goods to be transported to Thai Nguyen for sale at a price of over 150 million VND. According to the asset valuation, the total value of the three rolls of corrugated iron that Le Quang Vu had fraudulently obtained at that time was 350 million VND.
Following the success of that scam, just one week later, Vu committed another fraud. This time, upon seeing an advertisement seeking transportation services for over 21 tons of goods, including 7 rolls of unwrapped cable and 110 sets of anchors (fixing equipment used in construction), from a company's warehouse in the Song Than Industrial Park (formerly Binh Duong province) to Quang Ngai province, Vu contacted the employee, pretending to be hired to transport the goods for 13.5 million VND.
Later, through a social acquaintance, Vu found a driver to transport the goods. That same afternoon, Vu took the driver to contact the warehouse manager to complete the procedures for releasing the goods from the warehouse. After receiving all the goods, the driver headed north.
As soon as he got into his vehicle, Vu offered to sell 7 rolls of uninsulated cable, and a woman contacted him to inquire about buying them. When she asked about the origin of the cable, Vu said it was surplus cable from a construction site in Ho Chi Minh City, being transported to Da Nang for sale. He showed her photos of the goods, stating that they weighed 21 tons. The buyer agreed to purchase the cable for over 165 million VND.
On the afternoon of August 16, 2024, when the truck reached Phu Yen province, an employee of the company that hired him to transport the goods called to inquire about the situation. At this time, Vu lied, saying that there were still goods on the truck that needed to be delivered urgently to Da Nang and promised that after delivering those goods, he would bring the cable car back on time. Although the company representative firmly disagreed, Vu hung up the phone and told the driver to follow his instructions, and that he would take responsibility for any problems.
When the vehicle arrived in Da Nang City, Le Quang Vu sold 7 rolls of cable and 110 sets of anchors for over 175 million VND. Meanwhile, authorities estimated the value of the goods to be over 442 million VND.
On August 29, 2024, Le Quang Vu was arrested by the police of Hoang Mai town (formerly), Nghe An province, while hiding in Thua Thien Hue province. The investigating agency determined that the total amount of money Le Quang Vu embezzled from the victims was nearly 800 million VND.
At the time of his arrest, Vu was wanted under two arrest warrants issued by the Hoa Vang District Police (formerly), Da Nang City, and the Quy Nhon City Police, Binh Dinh Province (formerly), for crimes related to property appropriation.
The fate of a professional con artist.
For the aforementioned criminal acts, Le Quang Vu was prosecuted and brought to trial for "Fraudulent appropriation of property." At the recent first-instance trial, the defendant admitted his criminal acts. Regarding his motive, the defendant stated that due to a lack of stable employment and a desire for money, he used the aforementioned scheme to defraud the victims. He claimed that the money obtained from selling the victims' property was used for personal expenses. Furthermore, Vu also spent a large sum of money buying an expensive phone as a gift for his girlfriend.
In court, the defendant expressed remorse for his wrongdoing. He stated: "During my detention, I realized that my actions were wrong and violated the law. I ask the court for a chance to correct my mistakes." However, this plea for correction seemed insincere, as Vu had repeatedly committed acts of fraud.
In 2013, Le Quang Vu was sentenced to 5 years in prison for "fraudulent appropriation of property". In addition, Vu was also fined administratively by the Da Nang Port Border Guard Command for theft.
After serving his prison sentence, Vu spent some time living in the southern provinces. However, shortly after his rehabilitation, he committed another act of property theft.
When arrested for impersonating a shipping company to commit fraud, Le Quang Vu was subsequently tried in two separate cases due to his involvement in two other cases. Accordingly, in June 2025, Le Quang Vu was sentenced to 30 months in prison by the People's Court of Hoa Vang District (formerly), Da Nang City, for "Extortion." One month later, Vu was again sentenced to 6 years in prison by the People's Court of Region 1, Gia Lai, for "Abuse of trust to appropriate property."
Appearing in court for the fourth time at this trial, the defendant seemed quite calm and accepted full responsibility before the law. The victims who attended the trial demanded that the defendant return their money.
The court determined that the defendant's actions violated the law. In this case, the fact that the defendant committed the crime twice is an aggravating circumstance. Considering all aspects of the case, the court sentenced defendant Le Quang Vu to 13 years in prison. Combined with the two previous sentences, the defendant must serve a total of 21 years and 6 months in prison. Receiving three sentences within four months makes Le Quang Vu's path to release even more distant…
