Female thief who disguised herself as a maid to steal billions of dong has been caught.

On October 5th, the Criminal Police Department of Ho Chi Minh City Police announced that they have initiated legal proceedings and temporarily detained suspect Le Thi Thuy (born in 1981, from An Giang province) for investigation into the crime of "theft of property".

Thuy is the suspect in the theft of nearly 900 million VND from Ms. Pham Thi Hong T. (residing in District 3) more than a year ago, which has been reported in the press.

After nearly a year of investigation and following leads, the police recently discovered a domestic helper in Binh Duong whose physical characteristics matched those of the suspect who stole property from Ms. T.'s house, so they invited her to the police station for questioning.

Faced with overwhelming evidence, the suspect confessed to the crime.

Accordingly, to carry out her theft plan, Thuy ordered fake identity documents online and then sought employment as a domestic helper for wealthy families, hoping to steal their valuables when the homeowners were careless.

The suspect is Le Thi Thuy.

In mid-July 2017, Thuy went online to order a fake identity card under the name Nguyen Thi Thanh Lan (born June 30, 1980; Registered address: Hamlet 5, Quoi Son, Chau Thanh, Ben Tre) and a certified photocopy of a household registration book bearing the names Nguyen Thi Thanh Lan, Nong Thi Hoa, and Nguyen Van Tuan for 1.5 million VND to prepare for disguising her identity.

After obtaining the fake documents, Thuy posted an advertisement on the social media site "Cho Tot" looking for a job. At this time, Ms. T. saw Thuy's advertisement for a domestic helper position, contacted Thuy, and hired her.

The suspect Thuy stayed at Ms. T's house for three days before deciding to commit theft.

Using this method, from 2016 to 2018, Thuy successfully carried out four more thefts in District 3, Binh Tan District, and Binh Duong Province, stealing dozens of gold bars and a large amount of foreign currency.

Notably, Thuy only worked at each house for one or two days before committing the crime.

After working at Ms. N.'s house for two days, Thuy took advantage of Ms. N.'s absence and entered Ms. N.'s bedroom. She rummaged through a drawer and took a cloth bag containing several gold rings (approximately 2 taels), two 24K gold necklaces (over 2 taels), a 24K gold bracelet with green jade, two 18K gold necklaces, a 24K gold badge (2 taels), a pair of earrings, 300 Canadian dollars, and 3 million Vietnamese dong, then fled. Thuy sold the gold and foreign currency in various places, earning over 100 million dong, which she then spent on gambling and lottery.

Thủy worked as a maid for Ms. T. and committed a major theft at Ms. T.'s house, which was captured on camera.

Around May 2017, Thuy forged an identity card under the name Tran Thi Ngoc Lan (born in 1987; registered address: Minh Tan, Dau Tieng, Binh Duong province) and a photocopied household registration book with a fake certified copy. She then went to the house of Ms. Pham Thi Lien T. on Dien Bien Phu street (Ward 3, District 3) to apply for a job as a domestic helper in order to steal property.

After working for one day, Thuy took advantage of the fact that Ms. T. and her husband were away to enter the room to search for valuables. Thuy discovered a safe on the left side of the room. She pressed #123456# and the automatic lock opened (Thuy had researched this online beforehand). Thuy rummaged through the safe and took two 9999 gold necklaces, each weighing 1 tael, eleven 24k gold bracelets weighing 5 taels, one 18k gold bracelet weighing over 1 tael, and 100 USD. Afterwards, Thuy left Ms. T.'s house and fled to Di An, Binh Duong.

The assets that Thuy had pawned at a gold shop in Thong Dung market, Di An, Binh Duong, were later sold outright for nearly 80 million VND because she couldn't redeem them. She then spent all the money on gambling and lottery tickets.

Most recently, on June 30, 2018, Thuy saw an advertisement on the Chợ Tốt website looking for a domestic helper posted by Ms. Nguyen TDT (living in Hoang Long Apartment Building, Nhi Dong neighborhood, Di An town, Binh Duong province), so she proactively contacted her to apply for the job.

Thuy used a fake identity card under the name Truong Thi Thu Ha (born in 1979; registered address: Hung Loi B hamlet, Cai Be district, Tien Giang province).

After working for two days, Thuy broke into Ms. T.'s room, opened the safe, stole over 250 million VND, a gold bracelet, and a gold ring, then fled.

Based on the investigation documents, on September 13th, the Investigating Police Agency issued a Decision to prosecute and an Order to detain Le Thi Thuy for the crime of "theft of property," which was approved by the People's Procuracy of Ho Chi Minh City.