Prosecution of group that sold 'meteorites' and appropriated 2 billion VND
The police have prosecuted and detained a group of five people accused of fraudulently selling "meteorites" and appropriating 2 billion VND.
On August 29, according to the Investigation Agency of Dong Thap Province Police, the unit has prosecuted and detained Phan Van Tinh (born in 1980, residing in Tan Hong district); Nguyen Huu Phuoc (born in 1985), Duong Van Kinh (born in 1980), Nguyen Trung Hieu (born in 1979) and Pham Van Luy (born in 1988) - all residing in Hong Ngu district to investigate the act of "Fraudulent appropriation of property".
This group was accused of fraudulently selling "meteorites" and appropriating 2 billion VND in Thuong Thoi Tien town, Hong Ngu district.
According to the investigation, Ms. LTG (born in 1971, residing in Binh Dinh) through social relationships learned information from Tinh about a rare object, called a "meteorite", that was being sold.
On August 4, Ms. G. went to Thuong Thoi Tien town, rented a hotel room and made an appointment to meet Tinh to negotiate. The two sides discussed the "meteorite" sale contract, in which Ms. G. had to deposit 2 billion VND. If the contract was violated, this amount would be lost.
That same evening, Tinh bought a safe and asked Ms. G. to put 2 billion VND in it, then left the safe in the hotel room. Tinh kept the key, while Ms. G. kept the password. After that, Tinh asked Ms. G. to hand over the signed contract to perform a worship ceremony, with the purpose of "facilitating the transaction".
At 9:00 a.m. on August 6, Tinh, along with Phuoc, Kinh, Hieu, and Luy, went to the hotel and demanded that Ms. G. pay 2 billion VND due to breach of contract. At this time, Ms. G. checked the contract again and discovered that the transaction deadline was August 5. Ms. G. did not agree to pay the money, but Tinh convinced Ms. G. to postpone the transaction to another day, on the condition that she had to deposit 2 billion VND before being taken to see the "meteorite".
Trusting her, Ms. G. gave Tinh 2 billion VND. After receiving the money, Tinh and his accomplices cut off contact and went into hiding.
Suspecting that she had been scammed, Ms. G. went to Hong Ngu District Police to report. Through investigation, Hong Ngu District Police identified the related subjects and summoned them for questioning.
At the investigation agency, this group admitted that they did not have "meteorites" to sell and admitted that they had created a scenario to defraud and appropriate property. They drew up a story about "meteorites" to lure victims into a trap and then appropriated 2 billion VND under the pretext of breach of contract.
After clarifying the case, Hong Ngu District Police transferred the case to the Criminal Police Department, Dong Thap Provincial Police to continue investigating according to their authority.