Using a Buddhist temple as a cover for her scams, a female con artist swindled over 18 billion VND.

On August 13th, the Hanoi City People's Court held the first-instance trial of the fraud case against defendant Le Thi Hong Hoa (born in 1984, Thuy Lam commune, Dong Anh district, Hanoi). Le Thi Hong Hoa was prosecuted for appropriating money from 6 victims, totaling over 18 billion VND.

According to the indictment and the proceedings of the trial, Hoa is a fraudster with a prior conviction and is currently under probation. Since 2017, Hoa used the alias Quynh and frequently visited a famous Buddhist temple in Hanoi to volunteer. At the temple, Hoa befriended Buddhists and monks, boasting that she worked at the Government Office, had connections with many leaders, and possessed considerable wealth. Hoa also borrowed or rented luxury cars to travel to the temple to project the image of a wealthy and powerful person.

Le Thi Hong Hoa used the guise of a "devout Buddhist" to defraud and embezzle nearly 18 billion VND. Photo: Trong Phu

Through various means, Hoa enlisted the help of monks in the temple to speak favorably of her, thereby gaining the trust of Buddhist followers. Using this as a basis, Hoa sought out "victims" to carry out her fraudulent activities.

One of Hoa's victims was Ms. Doan Thi HA (born in 1961, Dong Da District, Hanoi). Ms. HA met Hoa at a temple and heard Hoa claim to have many connections and "connections" to help obtain land ownership certificates for difficult cases. At that time, Ms. HA was living in a house in Phuong Lien Ward, Dong Da District, without a land ownership certificate, so she asked Hoa for help in getting one.

Hoa demanded 3.5 billion VND to process the land title. Believing Hoa's words, Ms. HA gave her 2.9 billion VND upfront. Afterward, Hoa enticed Ms. HA to invest in a car business with high interest rates, promising 200 million VND in interest after one month for every 1 billion VND invested. Ms. HA believed her and borrowed money to give to Hoa. The total amount Ms. HA gave to Hoa was 8.4 billion VND. However, in reality, the land title was never processed, and the car business never materialized.

Under the guise of being a "devout Buddhist" and using schemes like "obtaining land ownership certificates," "buying cheap cars," or "investing in businesses," Hoa defrauded a total of six victims of over 18 billion VND.

In court, defendant Le Thi Hong Hoa testified that she gave over 18 billion VND to a person named Nguyen Hai. Afterward, Hoa claimed she did not know where Hai took the money. Regarding this illogical testimony, the panel of judges concluded: “The defendant employed many sophisticated methods in fraud and asset concealment. When the police arrested her, they could not recover any assets. Before the court, the defendant was not truthful in her testimony, therefore there is no basis for applying mitigating circumstances.”

At the conclusion of the trial, the panel of judges sentenced the defendant Le Thi Hong Hoa to life imprisonment for the crime of fraud and appropriation of property.