The "secret weapon" of the gambling-addicted director.

From teacher to company director

In late 2015, the Criminal Police Department of Nghe An Provincial Police received reports from several self-drive car rental businesses regarding customers who had rented vehicles but failed to return them after the contract expired. Despite the businesses' efforts to contact them, the customers kept finding excuses to evade them.

Notably, the individual accused by these businesses is currently under surveillance by Nghệ An Provincial Police detectives. This is Đặng Hồng Anh (born in 1979, residing in Tân Thành commune, Yên Thành district), who is currently out on bail awaiting trial for gambling offenses. He has repeatedly shown suspicious financial activity. In a short period, Hồng Anh and his accomplices frequently changed rental cars and even purchased two cars on installment plans simultaneously. These signs have led detectives to suspect a significant flow of money into Đặng Hồng Anh's pockets.

Through reliable sources, investigators learned that Dang Hong Anh was formerly a teacher at a primary school in Ky Son district. Besides teaching in remote villages, Hong Anh also worked as a middleman supplying fuel and electricity to telecommunication transmission stations in mountainous areas. With a stable income, Hong Anh decided to quit teaching to establish a limited liability company specializing in supplying fuel and electricity to transmission stations in mountainous districts. Since establishing the company, Hong Anh gradually built up many connections, and with the company's business thriving, he began to get involved in gambling.

In 2015, Dang Hong Anh was arrested in a gambling case. After completing the investigation phase, Hong Anh was released on bail pending trial. Around the same time, Hong Anh's company suffered losses, not to mention the debts from gambling, which made it impossible for him to manage his finances. Lacking money, Dang Hong Anh conspired with Tran Duy Dong (born in 1986), a fellow villager, to commit fraud. With sufficient evidence, on the afternoon of March 16, 2016, authorities decided to initiate criminal proceedings, indict the suspects, and temporarily detain Nguyen Hong Anh and his accomplices to clarify their fraudulent activities.

18 rented vehicles and over 7 billion VND.

The first crime that Hong Anh and his accomplices committed was in November 2015. Dang Hong Anh rented a Toyota Innova from Mr. Nguyen HS (Dien Chau) for 750,000 VND per day, from November 2nd to December 2nd, 2015. After renting the car, Dang Hong Anh immediately tried to pawn it but was unsuccessful, so he asked Tran Duy Dong to pawn it for him.

On November 19, 2015, Tran Duy Dong hired someone to forge vehicle registration papers under his name for 2.5 million VND per license plate, then took them to a pawn shop at Phu's house (residing in Dien Lam commune, Dien Chau district). There, Phu checked the registration and found it matched Dong's license plate and name, but still required Dong's wife to be present with a marriage certificate before allowing him to pawn the car. Tran Duy Dong relayed this requirement to Dang Hong Anh, who then asked his friend Cao TL (residing in Dien Tho commune, Dien Chau district) to impersonate Dong's wife.

At around 6 PM that same day, Dong went home to get his marriage certificate and then went with Cao TL to Phu's house. There, Phu agreed to let Dong pawn the car, but Dong had to write a promissory note for 300 million VND. Dong gave the entire amount from pawning the car to Dang Hong Anh.

Upon the expiration of the contract, Mr. Nguyen HS repeatedly called to request the return of the car and the rental fee, but Dang Hong Anh evaded him and switched off her phone. On March 8, 2016, Mr. Nguyen HS filed a complaint with the Nghe An Provincial Police against Dang Hong Anh for fraudulent appropriation of his self-driving car.

Using this method, from the end of 2015 until his arrest, Tran Duy Dong committed 6 fraud cases. As for Dang Hong Anh, he confessed that, using similar tactics, he committed 14 fraud cases, stealing 14 cars from private business owners and limited liability companies, mainly 7-seater Innova vehicles, which he then pawned to pay off debts and gamble.

After completing the fake paperwork for each car, he pawned it for between 300 and 400 million VND. Furthermore, the suspect confessed that, taking advantage of car dealerships' installment purchase policies, he bought two Ford cars with license plates 37C-116.06 and 37C-186.79 on installment plans. Although the car registration papers were held by the dealership, after obtaining the two cars, Dang Hong Anh continued to have someone forge the documents and resell them.

According to the investigation's conclusions, within a four-month period, Anh and Dong committed 18 fraudulent acts to seize assets from self-drive car rental companies, stealing 18 vehicles and illegally profiting 7.2 billion VND.

Late regrets

The trial of Dang Hong Anh took place at the end of June 2017, with many victims in attendance. Dang Hong Anh was prosecuted as the ringleader of this large-scale fraud scheme.

According to the indictment of the Nghe An Provincial People's Procuracy, from March 2015 to March 2016, in order to pay off debts, Dang Hong Anh and Tran Duy Dong, under the guise of being directors, rented self-driving cars, then hired individuals in Dien Chau and Quynh Luu districts to forge registration documents before pawning or mortgaging the cars in various locations, committing 18 acts of fraud to misappropriate property.

Their modus operandi involves renting self-driving cars and then asking acquaintances to provide personal information such as full name, date of birth, hometown, and ID number to create fake car registration papers. Afterward, they pawn the cars to obtain money for their expenses.

It is known that when renting cars, Dang Hong Anh paid a larger amount than the normal rental rate, ranging from 30 to 40 million VND as a deposit, and the contract bore the company's official seal. Therefore, the car rental owners trusted him completely. Since the car rental owners were located in many different places, they were unaware that he rented so many cars.

Before the judges adjourned to deliberate, the defendants all expressed remorse and asked for leniency. The two ringleaders, Dong and Hong Anh, both showed regret and pledged to compensate for the damages caused. Hong Anh, in particular, stated before the court: “I beg the court to reduce my sentence so that I can return to work and earn money to compensate for the damages I have caused. If I cannot repay it in my lifetime, I will write a will so that my children and grandchildren will pay off the debt.”

“The defendant never denies responsibility and hopes for leniency so that upon returning home, he will have the opportunity and strength to work. In reality, the defendant's view is that the most important goal is to mitigate the consequences of his actions. However, if the defendant receives a 19-year prison sentence (the representative of the Provincial People's Procuracy proposed a sentence of 18-19 years), he will be 60 years old when he is released from prison, and he will no longer have the strength.”

According to local residents who were once Hong Anh's neighbors, Dang Hong Anh, as a successful director, frequently participated in charitable activities and local sports, cultural, and educational movements. With her generous and open personality, coupled with her background as a teacher, she was well-known among the villagers. Upon hearing the news, many were extremely surprised to learn that Hong Anh had fallen into the trap of gambling.

After deliberation, the trial panel sentenced Dang Hong Anh to 16 years in prison and Tran Duy Dong to 12 years in prison, both for the crime of "fraudulent appropriation of property". Regarding civil liability, Dang Hong Anh was ordered to compensate the victims more than 3.3 billion VND, and Tran Duy Dong was ordered to compensate more than 2.6 billion VND.

An Quynh