Trial of case of using journalist's name to blackmail business
Today (September 6), Hanoi People's Court brought the case of extortion of corporate property to trial.
Defendants Nguyen Ngoc Diep (born 1987, in Hai Ba Trung) and Dinh Thi Van (born 1988, in Hoai Duc) were brought to trial for the crime of Extortion. Ms. Diep is a former journalist for a magazine, and Van is a freelance worker.
Previously, on July 16, 2021, Mr. D. (born in 1996), director of a business in Ha Dong, went to the Investigation Security Agency, Hanoi Police to accuse Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Diep (a reporter for a magazine) of intimidating and threatening Mr. D.'s company to extort money through signing a media contract and removing two articles with bad content, affecting the company's reputation.
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| Subjects Dinh Thi Van (left) and Nguyen Ngoc Diep (right). Photo: Provided by the police |
Investigation results showed that Ms. Diep colluded with defendant Dinh Thi Van to look for violations in the company of which Mr. D. was the director.
Then, Ms. Diep used the name of a magazine to issue Official Letter No. 841 dated June 11, 2021, stating violations in the operation and advertising of products of the company of which Mr. D. was the director.
Ms. Diep continuously used the content of the official dispatch to threaten and pressure Mr. D's company to sign a media contract.
The accusation is that on June 27 and 28, 2021, defendant Diep continued to use the content of two articles reflecting the violations of the company of which Mr. D. was the director in the magazine to threaten and force the company to sign a media contract worth 35 million VND and give Ms. Diep 20 million VND to remove the article.
On July 15, 2021, Ms. Diep received 37.5 million VND from Mr. D's company, of which 20 million VND was for removing 2 articles from the magazine and 17.5 million VND was 50% of the value of the media contract.
On July 17, 2021, when Ms. Diep was receiving the remaining 20 million VND from Mr. D's company, she was caught red-handed by the investigation agency.
The indictment alleges that Ms. Diep was the mastermind and leader, and defendant Van must be held responsible as an accomplice.
According to Van's testimony at the investigation agency, the defendant and Ms. Diep agreed with each other that Van would look for violations of companies so that Ms. Diep could use those violations to influence and force business companies to sign media contracts with the magazine where Ms. Diep worked.
At today’s trial, defendants Diep and Van filed a request to postpone the trial due to health reasons. After deliberation, the panel decided to postpone the trial and will reopen on September 20.
"By September 20, if the two defendants continue to be absent, the panel of judges will try them in absentia according to the law," the judge said.