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 from 2012 to May 2019, through the use of cards to tell fortunes, see the feng shui of land and houses, gain the trust of the victims and then ask for their phone numbers, 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 scammed the most was nearly 600 million VND.

One of the seven victims was Ms. Vo Thi T., residing in Khai Son Commune, Anh Son District. Around April 2018, Ms. T. went to Binh's house to have her fortune told. There, 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" the family fortune and said that there was a treasure in Mrs. T's land, which was very valuable. Binh took out a notebook and asked Mrs. T. to choose, 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, the amount is 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 and covered it with dirt. When Mrs. T. discovered it and brought it up, Binh asked her to put it in the altar room, wrap it in white cloth and asked her not to open it without permission. After a while, Mrs. T. realized she had been scammed and 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 and fortune telling, saying 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 appropriated to the victims.