Fake fortune teller in Nghe An appropriates billions with just one prediction

On May 5, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial of Nguyen Thanh Binh (born 1959), residing in Khanh Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district, for the crime of "Fraudulent appropriation of property".

Binh was originally a person without a stable job. To have money to spend, Binh committed fraud and property appropriation.

In 2003 and the period from 2012 to May 2019, through the use of cards to tell fortunes, see the feng shui of land and houses, create trust with the victims and then ask for phone numbers to approach, Nguyen Thanh Binh committed 6 frauds against 7 victims in the districts of Anh Son, Do Luong, Yen Thanh, Vinh City with a total amount of money appropriated nearly 1.5 billion VND. Of which, the person who was defrauded the most was nearly 600 million VND.

One of the 7 victims was Ms. Vo Thi T., residing in Khai Son commune, Anh Son district. Around April 2018, Ms. T. came to Binh's house to have her fortune told. Here, Binh correctly predicted many issues, making Ms. T. trust him. Because he had the intention of defrauding her, after the fortune telling, Binh proactively asked for her phone number.

Fake fortune teller Nguyen Thanh Binh in court. Photo: Tran Vu

At 7:00 p.m. the same day, Binh went to Mrs. T.'s house to "tell fortunes" for the family and said that in Mrs. T.'s land there was a treasure of great value. Binh took out a notebook and asked Mrs. T. to choose and tear out a page and place it on the altar. After that, Binh told Mrs. T. and her husband to go to the second floor to burn incense.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, Binh took out the prepared paper and swapped it with the paper on the table. When Mrs. T. came down and opened the paper, she saw the content: "There is a treasure in the garden. If you want to get it, you have to exorcise the spirit and pay 300 million VND." After that, Binh went to the garden and pointed out the location of the treasure, but told her to wait for a "good day" to dig. Trusting her, Mrs. T. gave Binh 300 million VND to exorcise the spirit.

A few days later, Binh went to Mrs. T.'s house to dig for the "treasure". Taking advantage of the moment when everyone came into the house to burn incense, Binh took the ceramic vase he had prepared and put it in the hole, then covered it with dirt. When Mrs. T. discovered it and brought it up, Binh asked to put it in the altar room, wrapped it in white cloth, and asked not to open it without permission. After a while, Mrs. T. discovered that she had been cheated, so she asked Binh to return the money. Afraid that Mrs. T. would report it to the police, Binh paid 170 million VND.

In court, the defendant admitted to his crime. Binh said that due to gambling debts, he deceived the victims through spiritual factors, fortune telling, and predictions that there was a valuable treasure in the house that needed to be exorcised.

The panel of judges determined that the defendant’s actions were dangerous to society. The defendant had a bad personal history, having been sentenced to prison three times by courts at all levels for gambling, fraud, and property appropriation.

Considering the case as a whole, the court sentenced Nguyen Thanh Binh to 16 years in prison for “fraudulent appropriation of property”. The defendant was required to return the money he had misappropriated to the victims.