Detecting large-scale labor export fraud ring

(Baonghean) - With extremely sophisticated tricks, drawing out the prospect of changing their lives through labor export to countries such as Korea, Canada..., Ngo Thu Ly (1983) and Giap Van Trung (1978), both residing in Viet Lap commune, Tan Yen district, Bac Giang, colluded with Chu Ngoc Lam 1982, residing in Tien Thanh commune, Yen Thanh (Nghe An) to defraud gullible villagers in many districts in Nghe An province, appropriating over 7 billion VND. The subjects have just been temporarily detained by Yen Thanh district police for investigation and clarification...

Impersonating a senior official to commit fraud

The initial investigation by the Yen Thanh District Police Department determined that since June 2013, Ngo Thu Ly claimed to be working at the Government Inspectorate, while Giap Van Trung was an official working at a high-ranking agency in Hanoi. Both went to Nghe An to connect with Chu Ngoc Lam in Tien Thanh - Yen Thanh to set up a line to send people to work abroad.

As a local, Chu Ngoc Lam was assigned to find and mobilize people who wanted to work abroad. To deceive people, they forged many documents, records, and seals from Vietnam, Korea, Canada, etc., all with signatures and seals. They instructed people to do paperwork such as photocopying ID cards, making judicial certificates, passports, and submitting 100 portrait photos, requiring those who wanted to work abroad to deposit an initial amount of 7,000 USD to the Phuong Dong Trading Joint Stock Company headquartered in Hanoi. They also borrowed the hall of the Tien Thanh Commune People's Committee to introduce Ngo Thu Ly as a "Government Inspector", Hoang Tien Minh as a worker at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Hoang Thanh Tung as an employee of Samsung Electronics Company, Korea. They collected money from workers and had receipts with the promise that within 3 months they would "fly away" and if the workers could not go, the company would refund the cost. In addition, they also "teased" that each worker had to pay an additional 3,000 USD "escape fee".

Subjects Ngo Thu Ly and Giap Van Trung were detained at Yen Thanh Police.

However, after many rounds, the workers were still not allowed to go abroad, causing many households to be upset and demand that Ngo Thu Ly, Giap Van Trung, and Chu Ngoc Lam give a reason. To calm public opinion, the subjects explained, "The reason for the delay in the flight is because a subject named Le Thanh Cong in Duc Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) reported to the Ministry of Public Security that this flight of workers to Korea would escape, so it had to be stopped. In addition, they were also cunning when they used the incident of the missing Malaysian plane MH 370, which was attacked by terrorists, so the next flights were still delayed. In response to the fierce reaction of the workers, the above subjects made a final promise that on March 6, 2014, all workers would be able to "fly", but that was just an empty promise. In total, this network defrauded 37 people of more than 7 billion VND.

On March 7, 2014, Yen Thanh District Police received a complaint from Mr. Dang Dinh Tam, residing in Nghia Phuc, Tan Ky, about a labor export fraud ring. Lieutenant Colonel Pham Xuan Khanh, Deputy Head of Yen Thanh District Police, said: Determining that this was a large-scale labor export fraud ring, Yen Thanh Police quickly took action to verify, investigate, and establish Project No. 314 LĐ. On March 12, the Working Group went directly to Hanoi to verify the ringleaders of the overseas labor export ring, namely Ngo Thu Ly and Giap Van Trung. The police have clearly identified the relatives and backgrounds of the subjects. Ngo Thu Ly has registered temporary residence at Hamlet 3, Me Tri, Tu Liem (Hanoi) and Giap Van Trung has temporarily resided at Lane 381/60, Nguyen Khang, Yen Hoa Ward, Cau Giay District, Hanoi. Both subjects have no jobs. Yen Thanh district police were present at the temporary residence registration but the above subjects were not present.

By professional measures, on March 27, Yen Thanh District Police urgently arrested Ngo Thu Ly and Giap Van Trung while the subjects were operating in Nghe An. At the police station, Ngo Thu Ly appeared very stubborn, she said that she was pregnant and threatened to sue the police for illegal arrest. Faced with Ly's tricks, the investigation agency took her for a check-up and the results showed that Ngo Thu Ly was not pregnant. However, Ly firmly denied the crime, saying that she was wronged, she was only a broker and not the mastermind, the above money was transferred to Ms. Huyen from Nghe An (married to a Korean man) and Ms. Thuy working at the Korean Embassy in Vietnam. The investigation agency verified that Ms. Thuy did not work at the Korean Embassy in Vietnam. Subjects Huyen and Ly confessed that they had only met once for a drink at Nga Tu So and did not know Huyen's specific address. Up to this point, Yen Thanh Police have only recovered over 500 million VND to pay to 2 victims of the labor export fraud ring. Yen Thanh Police have decided to prosecute the case, prosecute the accused, and temporarily detain Ngo Thu Ly (31 years old) and Giap Van Trung (36 years old, both residing in Tan Yen district, Bac Giang) for fraud and appropriation of property and continue to investigate and expand the case.

The whole village "hugs" debt

Late in the afternoon, we returned to the coastal village of Xuan Bac, Dien Van commune (Dien Chau), and asked about the families who had just been tricked into going to South Korea and Canada to work. Everyone enthusiastically gave us directions: "I hope you guys write articles and the authorities will intervene to help people get their money back from these scammers. They are all farmers, most of whom borrowed money, so miserable, how can they pay their debts?" Through small, narrow dirt roads, we went to the house of Ms. Hoang Thi Hong, whose husband is Pham Ngoc Tam, one of the 9 families who were victims of the scam ring. Ms. Hong sadly said: “My family has 3 children. Pham Thi Xuan is the eldest daughter (born in 1995). Last year, she had just graduated from high school and had no job. Uncle Lam (subject Chu Ngoc Lam - PV) came to the house and said that there would be a few places for her to go to Korea soon. If you agree to let her go, please quickly complete the application and pay her the money. Because Lam has been working at the incense stick factory in the neighborhood for a long time and has been getting along well with everyone, the family completely trusts her.”

In Xuan Bac hamlet, there are 5 other cases of brothers and relatives of Ms. Hong and Mr. Tam who were brokered by Lam to go to work abroad. Believing Lam's words, hoping to "change their lives" after their children were sent to work abroad in Korea and Canada, each family borrowed 120 million VND to pay Lam. In early March 2014, hearing that Lam's labor export recruitment ring was arrested by the police, 9 families in Dien Van commune were extremely disappointed. Each family was carrying a huge debt. To have money to pay Lam, they mortgaged their land books to borrow from banks, and even had to borrow at high interest rates from individuals. Ms. Hong's family, out of 120 million VND, borrowed 70 million VND from banks and 50 million VND from people in the commune. Each month, Ms. Hong's family had to pay high interest rates of 2.5 million VND. She sighed: “The family’s life depends on 6 sao of rice fields, 3 children of school age, the husband works for hire, today this job tomorrow that job, where can we get the money to pay off this debt. Now sitting thinking about that debt, I can’t eat or sleep.”

The most miserable case is probably that of Ms. Pham Thi Phuc. Last year, Ms. Phuc's mother was diagnosed with cancer, and the family had to borrow money everywhere to pay for her treatment. After her death, the family had to bear a large debt. When they heard that Lam was a broker for them to work in Korea, Ms. Phuc's sisters borrowed money everywhere to help their younger brother Pham Van Tuong go to work, hoping to have money to send back to the family to pay off the debt. Unexpectedly, Ms. Phuc's family fell into a scam and had to bear an even larger debt.

Going back to Tien Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district, through investigation, it was learned that Chu Ngoc Lam was born in 1982, in a family in hamlet 8. After finishing high school, Lam did not have a stable job. After many years working in the South as a freelancer, Lam returned to his hometown and invested in an incense stick factory in Xuan Bac hamlet, Dien Van commune (Dien Chau). Knowing Giap Van Trung and Ngo Thu Ly, since August 2012, Chu Ngoc Lam recruited people to work abroad in Korea and Canada. The subjects that Lam targeted were children of familiar families. The family of Mr. Nguyen Hai Bich (71 years old) in hamlet 6A, Tien Thanh commune has a wife, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Xoan (61 years old), who used to teach Lam, Lam's mother is a colleague of Mrs. Xoan.

In June 2013, seeing that Mrs. Xoan's family had a son, Nguyen Hai Hau (born in 1991), who was unemployed, Lam came to her house to solicit her. He claimed to know some people working at the Government Inspectorate and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who were currently recruiting workers to work in Korea. "There were supposed to be no more spots, but because one person registered to go, but passed the university entrance exam, he canceled the trip. The family could "intercept" this spot. The family was supposed to pay a fee of 15,000 USD, but Samsung Electronics Company - Korea lent them 7,000 USD, after they went to Korea to work, they would pay it back gradually." Hearing Lam's reasoning, and believing that he was a relative of the commune and had known him for a long time, Mrs. Xoan's family quickly borrowed 2,000 USD to pay a deposit to Lam. After completing the application, Mrs. Xoan's family borrowed another 5,000 USD to pay Lam. Mrs. Xoan wiped away her tears and choked: "My parents are old and my children are in difficult circumstances. Now I have a debt of nearly 150 million VND. I don't know when I will be able to pay it back."

Not only the people, but also the commune officials, Mr. Dang Xuan Ty - Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee and Mr. Tran Dinh Cam, Deputy Police Chief of Tien Thanh Commune were also tricked by these subjects into sending their children to work in Korea. Both Mr. Ty's and Mr. Cam's families each paid Giap Van Trung 10,000 USD and 3 million VND.

Desperate for jobs and a chance to “change their lives”, without any vigilance, farmers with dirty hands and feet became victims of fraud and debt.

Lesson of caution

This is not the first case of labor export fraud in Yen Thanh district. Seven years ago (in 2006), in Yen Thanh district, 25 poor farmers were tricked by Cuu Long Investment and Trading Joint Stock Company into sending them to work in Malaysia for VND500 million. However, the commune authorities were still not vigilant against strangers sneaking into the area to recruit laborers using sophisticated fraud tricks, hitting the psychology of the people. Mr. Pham Xuan Tuyet, Head of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, said: "The case of labor export fraud to Korea and Canada in Tien Thanh commune that Yen Thanh district police just discovered and arrested, the district did not know about, because these subjects sneaked into the area to operate without the intervention of local authorities". This incident shows that if Tien Thanh commune officials are careful with these subjects, promptly report to the district government and relevant agencies to clearly identify individuals and organizations recruiting workers to work abroad, and to propagate to the people, then they will prevent fraudulent behavior. This is a lesson that localities need to learn from.

Currently, the young labor force is lacking jobs, the dream of going abroad to work to "change their lives" is what everyone wants. For that reason, many people take advantage of people's gullibility and limited knowledge to trick people into going abroad to work for money, and the consequences are borne by the people. According to specialized agencies, to limit fraud, local authorities from commune to district, together with functional agencies such as the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, the district Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Office, need to strengthen propaganda work for people about the orientation of labor export. In addition, it is necessary to synchronously implement many solutions such as: conducting periodic inspections of labor export activities at licensed enterprises; conducting irregular inspections at labor export enterprises when receiving feedback from organizations, individuals, from the media, through complaints and denunciations of citizens. Thereby, detecting and strictly handling individuals and organizations that violate the law; administratively sanctioning labor export enterprises or transferring files to the police to prosecute those who show signs of committing crimes according to the Penal Code. On the part of labor export enterprises: It is necessary to publicly and transparently disclose information about conditions, procedures, selection criteria, salary levels and especially sending costs for each market; strictly directing and managing branches and centers to operate in accordance with the provisions of law.

For workers: Be alert and grasp accurate information. When you have a need to work abroad, contact directly the Department of Overseas Labor Management - Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs and the local Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs, through the local Labor Export Steering Committee and companies with labor export functions, do not go through brokers or agents.

Van Truong - Xuan Hoang