Nghe An: Fake 'fortune teller' swindles hundreds of millions of dong

Quynh Trang DNUM_BHZAGZCABJ 19:55

(Baonghean.vn) - The Investigation Police Agency of Do Luong District Police has just issued a decision to prosecute the case and prosecute Nguyen Thanh Binh (born in 1959, residing in Cong Thanh Commune, Yen Thanh District) for fraud and property appropriation.

fortune teller

Accordingly, on May 27, 2019, Binh went to the house of Ms. NTC (born in 1981) and Mr. NTV (born in 1955, Ms. C's father), both residing in Hamlet 10, My Son Commune, Do Luong District, to get acquainted. After gaining their trust, he used fortune-telling tricks to see the afterlife, see family affairs, and see land with Ms. C and Mr. V's family.

After "playing tricks", Binh judged that under Ms. C's house there was a treasure of 21 gold trays but it was cursed so it could not be excavated. Ms. C and Mr. V immediately used hoes to dig the ground at the location Binh pointed out. After digging 30 cm, Binh told Ms. C and Mr. V to go upstairs to burn incense and pray to the local god and then continue digging to get results. Taking advantage of the absence of Ms. C and Mr. V, Binh took out a gold-colored metal plate and a bronze statue from his pocket, put them in the hole he had just dug, and then covered it with soil.

Subject Nguyen Thanh Binh. Photo: Quynh Trang

After burning incense, the two continued digging and saw the plate and statue that Binh had just put down. The two now completely believed in Binh's divine ability and even intended to mobilize more family members to persevere in digging. However, Binh immediately stopped them, saying that they needed to go to the citadel in Tay Ninh to perform a ceremony to dispel the curse. If they continued to excavate without permission, they would be "cursed" by the holy spirit, their descendants would be affected, and their business would fail.

Before they could rejoice at having a “treasure” in their house, Ms. C. and Mr. V. were drawn into a terrifying danger by Binh. As if lost in Binh’s maze, both of them obediently followed Binh’s instructions.

Binh asked Ms. Ch. and Mr. V. to prepare 150 million VND to go to the Tay Ninh Holy See for the ceremony. Ms. C. asked to pay 23 million VND in advance and Mr. V. gave 10 million VND with a request for help because the family was in difficulty and did not have such a large amount of money. After receiving 33 million VND, Binh promised to go home to prepare more offerings and would contact them later.

After waiting for more than a day without hearing back from Mr. Binh, Mr. V.'s family realized they had been scammed and quickly filed a complaint with the Do Luong District Police for investigation and clarification.

On May 28, 2019, Do Luong District Police began investigating and verifying. After collecting evidence, the District Police Investigation Agency arrested Nguyen Thanh Binh for fraud and property appropriation.

Continuing to expand the investigation, Binh confessed that with the above trick in April 2019, Binh defrauded Mr. HVC's family in Hong Son commune, Do Luong district of 321 million VND.

Reveal the true face

Not only using the "fortune teller" label to scam, Binh also applied many other tricks to "lead" gullible people. Accordingly, at the end of April 2019, Binh promised to find a job for Ms. NTB, residing in Long Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district, to work at a charity organization sponsored by a foreign enterprise with a salary of 20 million VND/month. Binh asked Ms. B. to deposit 107,500,000 VND into the association's account. Binh affirmed to Ms. B. that after 7 days, he would get back both principal and interest. However, Ms. B. kept waiting, after 10 days, there was no money and Binh also disappeared without a trace.

In addition, taking advantage of his acquaintance, Binh also borrowed 120 million VND from Mr. Hoang Van L. residing in Dong Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district and has not yet paid as promised.

Without a stable job, but with his "eloquent" ability, Binh is very "talented" in drawing out visions for gullible people.

In 1997, Binh was sentenced to 5 years in prison by the Hanoi Supreme People's Court for "fraudulent appropriation of property". In 2012, Binh was sentenced to more than 8 years in prison for the same crime by the Yen Thanh District People's Court.

Not long after his prison term ended, he returned to his old ways. Currently, the Investigation Police Agency of Do Luong District Police has issued a decision to prosecute the case and prosecute Nguyen Thanh Binh for the crime of “Fraudulent appropriation of property”, Article 174 of the Penal Code.

The police also advised people to be alert to the tricks of these subjects, to avoid the situation of "losing money and getting sick". If you detect signs of fraud, you should immediately report it to the authorities to handle the subjects according to the provisions of the law.

Quynh Trang