Woman sentenced for organizing illegal emigration
Although she had no authority to send Vietnamese citizens abroad for labor export, Van, for personal gain, colluded with an individual to send four people to Canada to work illegally.
On September 16th, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a trial to hear the case against defendant Nguyen Thi Khanh Van (born in 1977), residing in Nghi Lien commune, Vinh City (Nghe An province), for the crime of ""Organizing the escape of others to foreign countries."
According to the indictment, although she had no authority to send Vietnamese citizens abroad for labor export, Nguyen Thi Khanh Van contacted Le Dinh Thuong for profit to arrange for four people, namely Truong Dinh Th., Vo Thi My N., Tran Duc M., and Nguyen Thi H., to work in Canada at a cost of 20,000 USD per person.
The method of travel involves workers going from Vietnam to Guinea under an invitation letter. From Guinea, they will then apply for a visa to Canada. Initially, Van will collect a deposit of 10 million VND and passports from each person so that Thuong can process the invitation letter application from Guinea.
When the flight schedule is confirmed, Van will collect an additional $5,000 USD from each person. Upon arrival in Guinea, she will collect another $4,000 USD from each person to prove financial capability. Van guarantees that the full amount will only be required upon arrival in Canada.
Between July and August 2022, Van advised four people on how to immigrate to Canada using this method.
On August 17, 2022, Van picked up four people in Ho Chi Minh City and handed them over to Thuong, who then directly transported them to Canada.
A day later, Thuong helped those people complete the exit procedures from Vietnam to Guinea and waited for the procedures to continue on to Canada to stay and work.
After months of waiting but being unable to travel to Canada, in August 2023, these citizens asked Van and Thuong to buy plane tickets to bring them back to Vietnam.
The investigating agency determined that the four victims had paid Nguyen Thi Khanh Van $36,000 and 40 million VND. Van then transferred $33,000 and 66 million VND to Thuong, keeping approximately 27 million VND and $1,000 for herself. After the scam was exposed, Thuong repaid some of the victims' money.
At the trial, the defendant admitted to the crime and asked the court to consider mitigating circumstances. The victims demanded that the defendant return the money.
After considering the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the court sentenced Nguyen Thi Khanh Van to 18 months in prison for the crime of organizing the illegal emigration of others.
Regarding Le Dinh Thuong, since he has already left the country, the investigating agency has not been able to question him. However, based on the evidence collected, the authorities have charged Thuong with the crime of organizing the illegal emigration of others. He will be prosecuted later when he is apprehended.