A Vietnamese woman living abroad who admired Venerable Thich Minh Tue was scammed out of 250 million VND by fraudsters.
Taking advantage of Ms. H.'s admiration for Mr. Thich Minh Tue, Le Thi Hong Vui (from Nghe An province) repeatedly asked Ms. H. to transfer money to support Mr. Tue and his family, but in reality, it was a scam to defraud her of her money.
The Security Investigation Department of the Gia Lai Provincial Police has arrested Le Thi Hong Vui (born in 1987, residing in Hung Thinh commune, Hung Nguyen district, Nghe An province) and transferred her to Gia Lai for investigation into the act of exploiting the influence of Mr. Le Anh Tu (commonly known as Thich Minh Tue) to defraud and appropriate property.
According to initial information, around May 2024, while Venerable Thich Minh Tue was traveling from North to South Vietnam on his alms-gathering journey, Ms. H. (born in 1970, residing in Australia) flew from Australia to Vietnam to pay her respects and met Venerable Tue in Quang Tri province.
Later, Ms. H. joined a group on a three-day alms-gathering trip before returning to Australia to live. During Ms. H.'s time in Vietnam, Le Thi Hong Vui became acquainted with her.
Upon returning to Australia, through the Zalo app, Mrs. H. frequently inquired with Vui about Mr. Tuệ's health and his spiritual practice.
Knowing of Ms. H.'s special admiration for Mr. Tue, from June 10th to early July 2024, Vui repeatedly sent text messages and made phone calls to Ms. H., saying that he needed money to buy clothes, personal items, pay for medical check-ups and treatment for Mr. Tue, and to renovate the house and buy items for Mr. Tue's parents.
Trusting Vui, Mrs. H. transferred money to Vui a total of 9 times, amounting to over 250 million VND.
Later, suspecting that Vui had taken advantage of her, on July 12th, Ms. H. returned from Australia to Vietnam to meet Vui to clarify the situation, but Vui blocked all contact with her.
When Ms. H. went to meet Mr. Tue and his family in Gia Lai, she learned that Vui had defrauded her and stolen her money. Ms. H. then reported the incident to the authorities.
Upon receiving the report, the Security Investigation Department of the Gia Lai Provincial Police quickly verified the information and dispatched a task force to Nghe An, but Vui had already fled from his residence.
After a seven-day search, at 3:30 PM on July 22nd, the Gia Lai Provincial Police arrested Le Thi Hong Vui while she was withdrawing money at a bank in Vinh City.
At the police station, Vui confessed to all of his crimes. According to his confession, initially Vui only wanted to ask Ms. H. to transfer a small amount of money, but seeing that she didn't suspect anything, he took advantage of her and asked her to transfer money multiple times. Vui used this money for personal expenses.
The Gia Lai Provincial Police are investigating the incident and identifying the individuals involved in order to handle the case according to the law.
