The perfect cover for the female 'master con artist'
(Baonghean.vn) - By creating a facade of being a successful person, driving luxury cars, running a large business, and having extensive connections, Cao Thi Thu Ha defrauded three men, appropriating over 4 billion VND in a short period of time. The victims, trusting Ha's exaggerated claims, easily transferred billions of VND to this young woman.
Young man scammed out of billions of dong while trying to get a job for his girlfriend.
With her petite figure and friendly face, no one would suspect that Cao Thi Thu Ha (33 years old), residing in Dien Hoa commune, Dien Chau district, is the perpetrator of numerous scams and embezzlements of nearly 4.1 billion VND from many victims.
This divorced woman, who lacked a stable job and income, always projected an image of luxury by driving expensive cars and dressing impeccably. Combined with her attractive appearance and fair skin, Ha easily won the favor of others.
Cao Thi Thu Ha also stated that she worked at a departmental-level unit within the military region. During meetings with her targets, Ha boasted about her connections with leaders of agencies and businesses, claiming she could secure jobs or offer cars at prices lower than the market rate. Believing her claims, many people fell for her scam and transferred large sums of money to her.
Among the victims was Mr. Phan The T. (34 years old), from Nghia Dan district. He knew Ha through a friend. In April 2022, when Ha learned that Mr. T.'s girlfriend was taking the entrance exam for the Social Policy Bank of Nghe An, Ha claimed to know a "high-ranking official" who could help and guaranteed her success. Believing her, Mr. T. transferred 850 million VND to Ha in a short time to handle the matter.
Around the same time, knowing that Mr. T. needed to buy a car, Ha claimed she could buy one at a lower price than the market rate. Without any suspicion, Mr. T. transferred 700 million VND to Ha several times to buy a car at a discounted price. However, after receiving over 1.5 billion VND from this young man, Ha spent it all on personal expenses.
In addition, Ha also used fraudulent tactics to swindle Mr. Nguyen Cong Nh. (32 years old), residing in Dien Thinh commune, Dien Chau district, out of 1.8 billion VND. Notably, Ha approached and defrauded him of this large sum of money in just over a month.
Specifically, Ha claimed to be in the transportation business (container trucks) and invited Mr. Nh. to invest 400 million VND, promising a monthly commission of 20 million VND. Trusting her, Mr. Nh. transferred the money to Ha. To avoid suspicion, Ha transferred the commission to her "partner" twice.
In addition, Ha also provided information such as needing money to buy a hotel, money for car repairs, and many other reasons that Ha herself couldn't remember, in order to swindle more than 1.2 billion VND from Mr. Nh.
After some time passed without receiving the commission as agreed, Mr. Nh. demanded a refund. After only returning a small amount, Ha continued to offer information about purchasing a brand-new, high-end Santafe 2.0 gasoline version for 900 million VND, persuading Mr. Nh. to deduct the amount from the money Ha was holding. Despite having been deceived by Ha with different information before, Mr. Nh. still believed her this time.
To gain the victim's trust, Ha took Mr. Nh. to a car dealership in Dien Chau district to sign a deposit contract for the purchase of a car. She also wrote a receipt acknowledging the payment and promising to pay a penalty if she failed to meet the deadline. However, when the deadline arrived, Ha was unable to purchase the car for Mr. Nh. When the man demanded his money back, Ha stated that she was unable to repay him.
Investigators determined that Cao Thi Thu Ha had defrauded and misappropriated nearly 4.1 billion VND from her victims. Upon realizing her scheme had been exposed, Cao Thi Thu Ha surrendered to the police in November 2022.
Master swindler receives sentence.
Before the witness stand, defendant Ha confessed that due to debt and the need for money to repay debts, she committed the fraudulent acts against many victims as charged in the indictment. However, Ha refused to answer the court's questions about the specific expenses she had incurred in a short period of time. After being questioned repeatedly, she only briefly stated that she had invested in land in Phu Quoc but suffered losses, then fell silent.
One victim stated that she transferred money because she trusted Ha's family background. On one occasion, Ha even called this person to a district police station to sign purchase and sale documents. After the deception was exposed, the victims repeatedly requested the return of their money, but Ha showed no willingness to cooperate. Even at this trial, the defendant has not returned any money to the victims. Therefore, attending the trial, the victims demanded that Ha return the money she had embezzled from them.
At the trial, the judge reminded the victims and those attending the court to be more cautious when conducting transactions involving large sums of money. The victims in this case also bore some responsibility for being too trusting and wanting to "secure" jobs. This serves as a general lesson for others to be more careful when doing business and conducting transactions.
Regarding the defendant's fraudulent behavior, the court determined that it was a particularly serious crime, infringing upon the property rights of others. In this case, the defendant had an aggravating circumstance of committing the crime two or more times. However, several mitigating circumstances, such as honest confession and remorse, should also be considered. After a comprehensive review of the case, the court sentenced Cao Thi Thu Ha to 20 years in prison and ordered her to repay the entire amount of money she had embezzled to the three victims.
Upon hearing the verdict, Ha calmly allowed the police to handcuff her hands as they escorted her to the detention center…