Rent a self-drive car to... sell it to pay off debts.

On April 6th, the Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial to hear the case against defendant Ton Nu Phuong Anh (born in 1983), residing in Hong Son ward (Vinh City), on two charges: "Fraudulent appropriation of property" and "Using forged seals or documents of agencies or organizations.

Due to debt and a lack of stable employment, Phuong Anh came up with the idea of ​​renting two self-driving cars and then pawning or selling them to get money for her expenses.

Defendant Ton Nu Phuong Anh. Photo: Tran Vu

Specifically, in March 2020, Phuong Anh went to a self-drive car rental company and signed a contract to rent two cars: a Mazda3 and a Nissan Navara.

About a month later, Phuong Anh brought a car to meet Mr. Tran Quoc L. and asked to borrow 170 million VND to resolve business matters. Phuong Anh said it was her brother's car and showed Mr. L. the car's documents, promising to repay the loan within 15 days. Mr. L. agreed. However, after the agreed date, Phuong Anh still did not repay the debt as promised.

In May 2020, Phuong Anh brought a Mazda3 car to Mr. L.'s house and said she needed 200 million VND for business and wanted to sell the car. To convince Mr. L., Phuong Anh presented a power of attorney for the sale, gift, and mortgage of the car between the car owner, Mr. Ho Viet Hung, and Ton Nu Phuong Anh, with confirmation from the People's Committee of Hung Nguyen town (Hung Nguyen district). In reality, this was a fake power of attorney. Previously, Phuong Anh had found a blank power of attorney and filled in the authorization details and information herself.

After reviewing the documents, Mr. L. agreed to buy the car. About 7 days later, he learned that "Phuong Anh was bankrupt and on the run," so he asked a friend to post an advertisement to sell the car. Subsequently, a man in Dien Chau district bought it for nearly 500 million VND.

Shortly afterward, the new owner discovered the car had a "problem" with its origin and contacted the real owner. Following the meeting, the car was returned to its rightful owner, the self-drive car rental company.

When the deception was exposed, Phuong Anh met with Mr. L., admitting that she had lied due to financial difficulties and promising to return the money. However, after a long wait without success, Mr. L. filed a complaint against Ton Nu Phuong Anh with the police. The valuation concluded that the two rented vehicles, which Anh then pawned and sold, were worth over 1 billion VND.

In court, the defendant admitted to the crime. The defendant stated that due to debt and financial hardship, he acted recklessly.

The court sentenced Ton Nu Phuong Anh to 12 years in prison for "Fraudulent appropriation of property" and 6 months in prison for "Using forged seals or documents of agencies or organizations".