Online purchase of 'red books' to defraud and appropriate billions
Hung “bragged” that he was capable of handling land procedures to gain the trust of many people. After taking money from the victims, Hung went online to buy “red books” to commit fraud.
On September 10, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened the first instance trial of defendant Le Thanh Hung (born 1991), residing in Dien Ky commune, Dien Chau district (Nghe An) for the crime of“Fraudulent appropriation of property”and “Forgery of documents of agencies and organizations; Using fake seals and documents of agencies and organizations”.
Le Thanh Hung is a gambling addict with no stable job. From July 2022 to July 2023, in order to have money for personal expenses and online gambling, Hung provided a lot of false information about being able to do land procedures and documents to defraud money from 7 victims.
After receiving the money from the victims, Hung did not complete the procedures related to granting land use right certificates, dividing plots, etc., but used it all for personal expenses.
The investigation agency determined that, using the above method, Le Thanh Hung had repeatedly defrauded and appropriated more than 2.5 billion VND from 7 victims.
After committing the fraud, fearing discovery, Hung forged a receipt for land use rights registration, used the fake seal of the Dien Chau District Land Use Rights Registration Office to stamp the fake receipt and gave it to the victim.
In addition, after receiving money from another victim, Hung did not complete the land procedures as promised but spent it all for personal use. When this victim repeatedly urged him to make a "red book", to conceal his fraudulent behavior, Hung went on Facebook to order 2 Land Use Rights Certificates and gave them to this victim.
At the witness stand, the defendant admitted to the crime as charged in the indictment. The defendant stated that because of his gambling addiction, he fell deeper into crime even though he knew that his behavior violated the law.
The defendant stated that he is currently unable to repay the debt to the victims, but promised to return the money to the victims after being released from prison.
The panel of judges determined that the defendant’s criminal behavior was dangerous to society. In this case, the defendant had aggravating circumstances such as recidivism, committing the crime 2 times or more, and committing the crime against a person over 70 years old.
After a comprehensive review of the case, the People's Court sentenced Le Thanh Hung to 16 years in prison for "Fraudulent appropriation of property", 6 months in prison for "Forgery of documents of an agency or organization" and 6 months in prison for "Using fake seals and documents of an agency or organization".
Combined with the previous 20-month prison sentence for "Trafficking in prohibited goods", defendant Hung must serve a total sentence of 18 years and 8 months in prison.