The 'lone thief' and the billion-dollar safe thefts

(Baonghean.vn) - Son used to be a school accountant so he knew when the units had money. Son bought tools and rode his motorbike at night to other places to steal in order to cover his tracks.

» Awarding the Special Task Force for successfully solving 11 safe theft cases

Breaking the safe, stealing more than 2 billion VND

From late 2015 to early 2017, Nghe An province saw a series of thefts at offices, schools, and businesses with estimated losses of more than 2 billion VND. The areas where criminals took advantage of loopholes to commit crimes were Vinh City, Yen Thanh, Nghi Loc, Dien Chau, and Hung Nguyen.

Subject Cao Xuan Son at the investigation agency. Photo: Quynh Trang

Such a high density and great damage has caused confusion for people, businesses, especially teachers and education workers. Many units have had conflicts and suspicions with each other, making the security and order situation complicated.

Faced with that situation, the provincial police leadership directed the Criminal Police Department to establish Project 417D to fight, mobilize maximum forces and professional measures, quickly arrest the subject and soon stabilize the security and order situation in the area.

The task force mobilized detectives from PC45, Dien Chau District Police and a number of professional units to focus on screening and verifying subjects in Dien Chau, Yen Thanh, Quynh Luu, Hung Nguyen, Vinh City, Nghi Loc and some neighboring areas, including subjects from other provinces showing signs of operating in Nghe An province.

In particular, the focus is on subjects with criminal records for property theft, drug addicts, gamblers, vagrants, mobile subjects... At the same time, the Special Task Force expanded coordination with the Ministry of Public Security's prisons in the area, conducting screening of newly released subjects to collect more information.

Through the evaluation of the cases, the Task Force has drawn out the operating rules of the perpetrators. Lieutenant Colonel Tran Hoa Ky - Captain of Team 4, Criminal Police Department said: The subjects often choose schools in November. As for businesses, they choose the end of the month, which is the time when schools and companies have large amounts of cash. It is estimated that the perpetrators will have knowledge of accounting activities, understanding of the education sector... so it is not ruled out that there is a connection with the subjects inside.

After more than 3 months of investigation, the Task Force established a suspect, Cao Xuan Son (born in 1972, residing in Block 3, Con Cuong Town, Con Cuong District). Son had 2 previous convictions for theft. Further investigation revealed that Son was previously an accountant at a secondary school in Con Cuong District, and was forced to quit his job due to disciplinary violations. Notably, at that time, Son had unclear time and financial matters, had no job but had a lot of money to spend and indulge in debauchery.

Consolidating the collected documents, on July 22, 2017, the Investigation Committee arrested Cao Xuan Son while he was gambling in Con Cuong district with a gambling amount of more than 300 million VND.

Son is very professional in breaking safes to steal property. Photo: HP

Professional conduct

At the police station, during the first 9 days, Son appeared to be “stubborn” and cunning, only admitting to his gambling, and said he did not know about the thefts. However, with sharp professional measures, Cao Xuan Son finally confessed to all the safe thefts in Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces that he had committed.

To commit the crime, Son prepared 1 electric drill, 2 drill bits, 1 screwdriver, 2 concrete chisels, 1 pry bar, 1 piece of rope, 1 pair of gloves, 2 flashlights. Son chose crime locations far from where he lived to make it difficult for the authorities to isolate the suspect.

In agencies and businesses that have security cameras, Son covers himself with a blanket, sprays the camera with paint, or takes away the camera's receiver to disable the system. To be absolutely safe, Son covers his face and wears gloves when acting so as not to leave any traces at the scene. Son then goes to administrative offices and treasury offices to find safes, using drilling tools to steal money and property.

"The subject was very clever. After stealing the safe and taking away cash and property, he only used the cash and threw away property such as laptops, receivers, etc., without buying, selling, or exchanging them in order to cut off the authorities' search for clues through physical evidence," Lieutenant Colonel Tran Hoa Ky added.

Provincial Police leaders congratulate the success of the Task Force. Photo: Quynh Trang

From November 2015 until his arrest, Son had successfully carried out 11 safe robberies, appropriating nearly 2.2 billion VND. The Criminal Police Department decided to prosecute the case, prosecute the accused, and detain Cao Xuan Son for the crime of "Theft of property" to continue investigating and expanding the case.

Quynh Trang