Reporter who swindled over 400 million VND faces 7 to 15 years in prison
Having escaped criminal proceedings once, a former reporter continued to commit fraud and appropriate property, so he was prosecuted, temporarily detained, and proposed for prosecution under the provisions of Clause 3, Article 174 of the Penal Code, with a penalty of 7 to 15 years in prison.
On the afternoon of July 2, Lieutenant Colonel Vo Duy Tuan - Chief of Song Cau Town Police (Phu Yen) confirmed that he had just concluded the investigation and proposed that the same-level prosecutor prosecute the defendant Phung The Dung (born 1968), residing in Phuoc Long Ward, Nha Trang City, former Deputy Head of the Representative Office of Van Nghe Newspaper - Writers Association in the Central and Central Highlands regions.
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| Police escort suspect Phung The Dung from the interrogation room back to detention. Photo: Dang Vinh (Phu Yen Police) |
According to the investigation conclusion of the Investigation Police Agency of Song Cau Town Police, through many sources, Phung The Dung learned that some people in Xuan Hai Commune, Song Cau Town encountered some difficulties when completing procedures for registration of land use purpose change (LUR) and issuance of land use right certificates (LURC), so he met with the people in December 2019.
Not only did Dung introduce himself as a journalist, but he also boasted that he had close relationships with many leaders in Phu Yen province and Song Cau town, so he had the ability to influence and resolve the transfer of land use rights and issue land use right certificates within 40-50 days, but had to pay a "bribe" of 50-70 million VND per case.
Trusting him, 7 people in Xuan Hai commune gave money to Dung, but he could not resolve their requests to transfer land use rights and issue land use right certificates. When people contacted him to urge him to return their money, Dung gave many reasons and continued to "promise today, promise tomorrow", and at the same time sought out many other people to commit fraud.
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| Official dispatch of the Editor-in-Chief of Van Nghe Newspaper informing the authorities in Khanh Hoa about the suspension of work and revocation of the press card of Phung The Dung from the end of December 2019. Photo: Huu Toan (capture of the document) |
Suspecting that they had fallen into a trap and being upset by Phung The Dung's deceitful tricks, the people reported to the Song Cau Town Police to verify and collect relevant evidence and documents. On March 18, 2020, while Phung The Dung was receiving 60 million VND from a resident at the Ruby Coffee Shop in Xuan Hai Commune, a criminal investigation team from Song Cau Town Police suddenly arrived and caught him red-handed.
Investigation results show that Phung The Dung defrauded and appropriated 432 million VND from 7 people in Xuan Hai commune, Song Cau town.
Phung The Dung used to hold the position of Deputy Head of the Representative Office of the Literature and Arts Newspaper of the Writers' Association in the Central and Central Highlands, with its headquarters on 2-4 Street, Vinh Phuoc Ward, Nha Trang City. In 2012, Phung The Dung was prosecuted by the Investigation Police Agency of Nha Trang City for fraud and property appropriation after receiving 70 million VND from a resident of Cam Thanh Nam Commune, Cam Ranh City (Khanh Hoa) to "fix a suspended sentence" for a defendant.
However, the Nha Trang City People's Procuracy refused to approve the case simply because "Phung The Dung committed fraud but his intention to appropriate property was unclear, there was not enough basis to prosecute him criminally", so the Nha Trang City Police Department had to issue a decision to cancel the decision to prosecute the criminal case and prosecute Phung The Dung.
Then, at the end of 2019, the Khanh Hoa Provincial Police Department received and verified the source of the accusation that Phung The Dung took money from many people with promises, carried out procedures to transfer land use rights, issued land use rights certificates, requested competent authorities to compensate and support when reclaiming land... While the Khanh Hoa Provincial Police Department was preparing to initiate criminal proceedings and prosecute the accused, Phung The Dung was caught red-handed by Song Cau Town Police for the above-mentioned acts.
According to the Department of Information and Communications of Khanh Hoa province, the representative office of the Literature and Arts Newspaper of the Central Highlands provinces ceased operations in Khanh Hoa in May 2019 and transferred to the representative office in Da Nang. Since then, Mr. Phung The Dung has only registered as a permanent reporter of the Literature and Arts Newspaper in Khanh Hoa.
On December 27, 2019, the Editor-in-Chief of Van Nghe Newspaper sent a document to the Provincial Party Committee, People's Committee, Department of Information and Communications, Journalists Association, Propaganda Department of Khanh Hoa Provincial Party Committee stating that he had suspended work and revoked his press card for review and disciplinary action....
It is known that the Investigation Police Agency of Song Cau Town proposed to prosecute the accused Phung The Dung for the crime of fraud and appropriation of property according to the provisions of Clause 3, Article 174 of the Penal Code, with a penalty of 7 to 15 years in prison.