Driving a car at midnight to steal a safe and take over half a billion dong
(Baonghean.vn) - Around midnight, Linh drove his private car to a company, entered the accounting office, broke the safe and stole 540 million VND. Linh used the stolen money to pay off debts and spend it all on personal expenses.
On March 30, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial of defendant Tran Van Linh (born 1988), residing in Nghia Minh commune, Nghia Dan district (Nghe An) for the crime of theft of property.
Tran Van Linh is a mechanic. Due to debts in business and to have money to pay off the debt, Linh came up with the idea of stealing property.
Because she had been to Nghe Tinh General Materials Joint Stock Company for a transaction, Linh knew the company's map and location and guessed that there was money in the safe. Therefore, Linh decided tobreak into the companyThis is to steal property.
At about 9:00 p.m. on October 6, 2021, Linh drove a car, carrying a cloth backpack containing a cutter and a hammer to serve the theft.
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| Defendant Tran Van Linh. Photo: Tran Vu |
When arriving at the company, Linh climbed the corrugated iron roof to the second floor through the window. Then, Linh broke into the accounting room and found two safes. Linh used a hand-held cutter to cut a hole, took 540 million VND from the company, and escaped the scene the same way.
Linh used the stolen money to pay off debts to many people, including many small traders at Vinh market. Linh hid the remaining 199 million VND in her rented room and spent it. On October 8, 2021, when she realized her actions had been exposed, Linh went to the police station to surrender.
At the trial, the defendant confessed and admitted to the crime. The defendant said that due to the pressure of debt, he took the risk of breaking into the company and stealing the safe. The defendant used the stolen money to pay off debts and for personal expenses.
The panel of judges determined that in this case, the defendant had many mitigating circumstances, such as turning himself in, confessing honestly, showing remorse, voluntarily surrendering, and influencing his family to compensate for all damages as requested by the victim's legal representative. The victim filed a petition for a reduction in the defendant's sentence.
Considering the case as a whole, the People's Court sentenced defendant Nguyen Van Linh to 7 years and 6 months in prison for theft of property.
