Exposing the scam of a notorious con artist with multiple criminal records who allegedly swindled people into getting jobs at hospitals.

Master scammer claims to be able to secure jobs in the medical field.

Le Thi Tuyet (born in 1979), residing in Nghi Kim commune, Vinh City (Nghe An province), is a freelance worker. Despite not having a stable job, Tuyet possesses a talent for exaggeration. She claims to be able to secure jobs at hospitals for those in need. Tuyet provides information about her husband working at a provincial hospital and her connections with many medical leaders to gain the victims' trust.

Using these tactics, this woman successfully deceived many victims. Notably, Tuyet's fraudulent activities had previously resulted in imprisonment by authorities. Her first sentence in 2016 was 6 years and 6 months in prison, consisting of 5 years for fraud and 1 year and 6 months for abuse of trust and misappropriation of property.

While serving her prison sentence, Le Thi Tuyet was found to be involved in a job-fixing scam at a hospital. Therefore, in 2021, Tuyet was sentenced to 20 years in prison by the People's Court of Nghe An province. Combining this with previous sentences, Le Thi Tuyet must serve a total of 26 years and 6 months in prison.

However, this woman's fraudulent activities did not stop with those sentences, as investigators determined that Tuyet had committed many other job-seeking scams. That is why, while serving her prison sentence at Prison No. 6 – Ministry of Public Security, Tuyet was transferred to the Nghệ An Provincial Police detention center for further investigation.

In this instance, Le Thi Tuyet, along with Truong Tuan Nga (born in 1948, residing in Dong Vinh ward, Vinh City), defrauded many people by promising them jobs at hospitals. Specifically, upon learning that Tuyet's husband worked at a hospital, Mr. Nga asked, "Can you secure jobs for my children at hospitals in the province?"

Le Thi Tuyet confirmed "yes" and told Nga "just bring your documents for review first, and if it's approved, I'll give you an answer," adding that the price for "getting a job" varies depending on the hospital, ranging from 200 to 250 million VND.

After agreeing on the price and method, the two carried out the scam. Tuyet and Nga boasted about their close relationships with the leaders of the Nghe An Department of Health and the leaders of hospitals in the province, promising and guaranteeing jobs for those in need. Believing their words, many victims fell into the trap, including Mr. Ho VL.

Mr. L., the head of a health station in a commune in Quynh Luu district, met Truong Tuan Nga in mid-2017. Nga introduced himself as a retired doctor from Military Hospital 108, claiming to have close ties with medical leaders and the ability to secure jobs at hospitals in Nghe An province. Mr. L. told Nga, "My friends have children who graduated from medical school but haven't found jobs yet. Could you please help them?"

Nga agreed but demanded a medical degree from a college or higher, and that full payment be required before he could help. He quoted a price of 250 million VND per "job placement," with the condition that the applicant would not violate exam regulations. Nga also promised a "100% guarantee; if not, he would refund double the money."

Enthralled by Nga's firm promise, Mr. L. called several friends about his ability to secure jobs, stating that each "job placement" at the hospital would cost between 300 and 320 million VND. Mr. L. received money to secure jobs for three people and then gave the money to Nga.

However, in reality, Tuyet and Nga did not secure jobs for anyone. After waiting a long time without receiving a job offer, the workers began to suspect something was wrong. When they realized they had been scammed and could not get their money back, the victims reported the fraudulent activities of Truong Tuan Nga and Le Thi Tuyet to the police.

The investigating agency determined that, between June 2016 and September 2017, Nga and Tuyet defrauded six victims of a total of 1.35 billion VND. Of this amount, Le Thi Tuyet, through Nga, embezzled over 826 million VND from four victims. Nga, on the other hand, embezzled over 523 million VND from two victims.

Sentence upon sentence

Following the aforementioned actions, the People's Court of Nghe An province recently held a first-instance trial to hear the case against defendants Le Thi Tuyet and Truong Tuan Nga for the crime of fraud and appropriation of property. Because defendant Nga is suffering from terminal cancer and has repeatedly failed to appear in court despite being summoned by authorities, the court decided to proceed with the trial in her absence.

Unlike her court appearance in early 2021, defendant Le Thi Tuyet looked much thinner this time. She appeared tired and repeatedly asked the judges to allow her to sit during questioning.

At the trial, the defendant Tuyet admitted to committing the fraud out of greed. She stated that she had spent all the stolen money, but she could not specify what she spent it on.

One of the victims attending the trial stated that the defendant's actions had caused them to lose a large sum of money. Furthermore, their trust in the defendant had cost them the opportunity to find other employment for an extended period. In response to the victims' demands for repayment, the defendant explained that she was currently in prison and therefore unable to repay the debt. The female defendant apologized to the victims and requested leniency from the court.

Based on a comprehensive review of the documents and evidence in the case file that were debated at the trial; assessing the nature and extent of the criminal act, the position and role of the defendants, and the mitigating circumstances, the Trial Panel sentenced defendant Truong Tuan Nga to 8 years in prison for the crime of Fraudulent Appropriation of Property.

The court sentenced defendant Le Thi Tuyet to 13 years in prison, in addition to the 26 years and 6 months sentence she is already serving, resulting in a total sentence of 30 years in prison.(According to Article 55 of the 2015 Penal Code, which regulates sentencing in cases of multiple offenses: If the sentences imposed are all non-custodial rehabilitation or all fixed-term imprisonment, then those sentences are added together to form a combined sentence; the combined sentence shall not exceed 3 years for non-custodial rehabilitation and 30 years for fixed-term imprisonment).In the civil aspect, the court ordered the defendants to compensate the victims for damages.

With three previous convictions for fraud and embezzlement, the female defendant demonstrates a blatant disregard for the law. Tuyet's actions have caused many victims to lose both money and job opportunities because they were misled by the empty promises of this con artist.

This incident highlights the need for extreme caution when seeking employment, especially when faced with requests for upfront payments in any form. Verifying employer information through official channels and rejecting unclear offers is essential to protect oneself from increasingly sophisticated scams. Upon detecting any unusual activity, individuals should immediately report it to the authorities for timely intervention and legal action.

Tran Vu