Claiming to know leaders in the Department of Health, scamming people by promising jobs at hospitals.

Over a period of more than one year, the defendants defrauded numerous victims, appropriating over 1.3 billion VND.

On April 11th, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened the first-instance trial of defendants Truong Tuan Nga (born in 1948), residing in Dong Vinh ward, Vinh City, and Le Thi Tuyet (born in 1979), residing in Nghi Kim commune, Vinh City, on the charge of "Fraudulent appropriation of property".

Because the defendant Nga is suffering from terminal cancer, and despite repeated summonses to court, she has failed to comply, the court has decided to proceed with the trial in her absence.

According to the indictment, Truong Tuan Nga and Le Thi Tuyet both lacked stable employment and had known each other since 2016. Knowing that Tuyet's husband worked at a hospital in Nghe An province, Nga asked, "Can you get jobs for my children at hospitals in the province?"

Le Thi Tuyet confirmed "yes" and told Nga, "Just bring your documents for review first, and if it's approved, I'll give you an answer." Tuyet also stated that the price for "job placement" varies depending on the hospital, ranging from 200 to 250 million VND per person.

Despite having no official authority or function within state agencies related to personnel organization, arrangement, or job placement, Nga and Tuyet provided false information claiming close relationships with leaders of the Nghe An Department of Health and hospital leaders in Nghe An province, promising and guaranteeing jobs for those in need.

Between June 2016 and September 2017, Nga and Tuyet used the above tactics to defraud six victims of a total of 1.35 billion VND.

Specifically, Nga defrauded two victims of a total of over 523 million VND. Le Thi Tuyet, through Nga, defrauded four victims of a total of over 826 million VND.

At the trial, the defendant Tuyet initially prevaricated and denied guilt, but later admitted to the crime. She apologized to the victims and asked the court to consider mitigating circumstances and reduce her sentence.

Le Thi Tuyet is a defendant with a bad criminal record, currently serving a 26-year and 6-month prison sentence for the crimes of fraud and misappropriation of property.

After considering the role of each defendant in the case, the panel of judges sentenced Truong Tuan Nga to 8 years in prison for the crime of fraud and appropriation of property.

The court sentenced defendant Le Thi Tuyet to 13 years in prison, in addition to the 26 years and 6 months sentence she is already serving, resulting in a total sentence of 30 years in prison.