The director defrauded people by using the money to pay off debts and employee salaries.
To pay off debts and employee salaries, Le Thanh Binh provided false information about two construction projects to deceive victims into contributing money. During the fraud, Binh also forged numerous documents and seals of agencies and organizations.
On July 30th, the People's Court of Nghe An province held a first-instance trial to hear the case against defendant Le Thanh Binh (born in 1990), residing in Dai Dong commune (Nghe An province), for the crimes of fraud and appropriation of property, and forging and using seals of agencies and organizations.
According to the case file, Le Thanh Binh was the director of a construction company. During the company's operations, Binh learned about two projects for commercial centers combined with local culture in Nghia Lam and Nghia Trung communes, in the former Nghia Dan district, and intended to apply for them.
After the People's Committee of Nghe An province sent a document to departments, agencies, and companies requesting the submission of required documents, Binh failed to comply.
During this time, Binh met Ms. Quach Thi T. (born in 1988, residing in Phu Tho) through social media. During their conversations, Ms. T. introduced her friend Bui Van H., a construction worker, to Binh for collaboration.
With the intention of defrauding people to obtain money for personal expenses, debt repayment, employee salaries, and supplies for his mini-supermarket, Binh provided false information about two projects to trick Ms. T. and Mr. H. into giving him money as investment capital. Trusting him, between March and April 2025, these two individuals transferred 237 million VND to Binh.
After transferring the money, Ms. T. did not receive the documents related to the project from Binh, so she contacted him. To gain her trust, Binh ordered fake documents online: a Certificate of Investment Policy from the People's Committee of Nghe An Province, a construction permit, a fire safety approval certificate, a land use right certificate, and a construction activity capacity certificate.
Afterward, Binh sent those documents to the victims via Zalo. Trusting him, the victims transferred over 120 million VND to Binh. The investigating agency determined that the total amount of money Binh defrauded and misappropriated from the two victims was 357 million VND.
At the trial, the defendant admitted to the crimes as charged in the indictment. Binh confessed that he took advantage of the victim's trust and provided false information to commit fraud.
Regarding the forgery and misuse of seals and documents of organizations, the defendant stated that because the company lacked the necessary capabilities, they had the documents forged and used them for fraudulent purposes. The defendant expressed remorse and requested the court to consider mitigating circumstances and reduce the sentence.
After a comprehensive review of the case, the panel of judges sentenced Le Thanh Binh to 7 years in prison for fraud and appropriation of property, and 3 years in prison for forging and using seals and documents of organizations. The total sentence the defendant must receive is 10 years in prison.