Grandson drugged grandparents to sell antiques for billions of dollars

Many times wanting to sell antiques in the house but not getting permission, Phan Tan Phong drugged his grandparents until they fell asleep and then had someone take all the antiques away after receiving 1 billion VND.

On May 18, Ho Chi Minh City People's Court tried Phan Tan Phong (29 years old) and Le Thi Xuan Qui (32 years old), both residing in District 10, for robbery.

According to the indictment, Phong is the nephew of Mr. Nguyen Van Sieu (74 years old), Mrs. Nguyen Thi Kha (81 years old) and Mrs. Nguyen Thi Quynh (78 years old). Mrs. Kha, Mrs. Quynh and Mr. Sieu are three biological sisters.

In December 2013, Phong met and brought Qui to live with him as husband and wife at Mr. Sieu's house.

The two defendants Qui and Phong (blue shirt) in court - Photo: Tuyet Mai

In early 2015, due to needing money to spend and contribute capital for business, Phong repeatedly asked to sell wooden, ceramic, porcelain, and bronze antiques left by his grandparents, but Mr. Sieu did not agree.

Phong found someone to buy antiques and brought them to see them, lying to his grandparents that he was a friend visiting. After that, Phong negotiated and signed a contract to sell all the antiques in the house for 1 billion VND to Mr. Nguyen Truong Vu, who deposited 100 million VND for Phong in advance.

Next, Phong went to the pharmacy on Pham The Hien Street, District 8, to buy 2 sleeping pills. When he got home, Phong tried one pill to see the effects of the medicine.

On March 10, 2015, Vu gave Phong another 200 million VND and sent someone to pack the wooden furniture and prepare to move (at this time Phong said he hired someone to move the furniture). Phong gave Qui 200 million VND and explained his plan to Qui and bought 2 more sleeping pills for Qui to keep.

At around 7:30 p.m. on March 11, 2015, on the way to pick Qui up to go home, Phong bought 2 bottles of aloe vera juice and put sleeping pills in them and gave them to his family members to drink. At the same time, to avoid suspicion, Phong asked Qui to drink some so he could sleep with everyone.

When everyone was asleep, Phong called Vu to come and pick up the pre-arranged antiques including tables, chairs, cabinets... Then Phong gave Qui another 700 million VND for safekeeping.

The next morning, the family woke up and discovered that all their belongings were missing. They immediately reported it to the District 10 police. Qui and Phong were arrested for robbery.

In court, both defendants admitted their actions. Phong said he was the main breadwinner in the family. His parents were divorced. Since he was a child, Phong lived with his grandparents. Because he was so poor, Phong wanted to sell the antiques in the house to buy a truck to start a business and get money to take care of his elderly grandparents.

Qui also said that he had previously had to sell his laptop to pay for his grandmother's hospital bills.

Considering that the two defendants were repentant and had committed the crime for the first time... the panel sentenced Qui to 12 years in prison and Phong to 12 years and 6 months in prison.

According to TTO