'No' is the younger brother of the Deputy Minister of National Defense, the couple defrauded 15 victims.

On November 8, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial against defendants Nguyen Thi Le (born in 1958, residing in Dien Xuan commune, Dien Chau district) and Nguyen Hoai Nam (born in 1950, residing in Nghia Dan town, Nghia Dan district) for the crime of Fraudulent appropriation of property.

According to documents from the investigation agency, from 2010 to 2015, by means of fraudulent job applications, war invalid benefits, pension benefits, and Agent Orange benefits, Nguyen Thi Le took advantage of the trust of many people to defraud 15 people and appropriated more than 1.5 billion VND.

The two defendants Nguyen Thi Le and Nguyen Hoai Nam in court. Photo: Nguyen Duong

Specifically, in 2009, Nguyen Hoai Nam met Nguyen Thi Le and together they rented a room in Vinh City to live together as husband and wife. After learning that Nam had savings and wanted to apply for a pension, Le came up with the idea of ​​defrauding Nam of her money.

Le took the initiative to tell Nam that his brother, the Deputy Minister of National Defense, could get a pension, which would cost 100 million VND. Believing this woman, Nam withdrew 100 million VND and gave it to Le. After receiving the money, Le spent it all.

In 2011, Le met Ms. Le Thi D. (born in 1973, residing in Dien Loi commune, Dien Chau district). Through conversation, Le introduced himself as having a brother who was the Deputy Minister of National Defense and had been able to get a job, a war invalid policy, and Agent Orange treatment, so Ms. D. trusted him and asked Le to help her with her retirement policy at a cost of 230 million VND.

On March 15, 2011, Ms. D. deposited 123 million VND. On July 27, 2013, hearing Le say that she had to pay the full amount to receive the pension decision, Ms. D. continued to give this woman 103 million VND, along with 1 tael of gold worth 4 million VND.

Not stopping there, with similar tricks, Le and Nam appropriated money from Mr. Nguyen Huu Th. (born in 1965, residing in Hung Phuc commune, Hung Nguyen district). Le promised to find a job for Mr. Th.'s son as a driver at the Ministry of National Defense for a cost of 250 million VND. After receiving this money, Le spent it on the living expenses of Le and Nam as husband and wife.

The investigation agency determined that with the above method, Nguyen Thi Le and Nguyen Hoai Nam defrauded 15 victims with a total amount of more than 1.5 billion VND. In which, Nguyen Hoai Nam was an accomplice with Nguyen Thi Le in defrauding 8 victims with a total amount of 660 million VND.

At the trial, the two defendants admitted to all their crimes. After a comprehensive review of the case, the panel sentenced Nguyen Thi Le to 15 years in prison and Nguyen Hoai Nam to 11 years in prison for fraud and appropriation of property.