The cries of two children when they met their mother in court

bottomless greed

One day in late March, a man in his 60s brought his two young grandchildren to the People's Court of Nghe An Province to attend the trial of his daughter, Le Thi Hien (27 years old), residing in Phuc Tho Commune, Nghi Loc District. Due to court regulations, the defendant's two and three-year-old children were not allowed inside. Relatives had to take turns holding and watching the two children in the hallway of the court.

In the courtroom, Le Thi Hien was brought to trial for fraud and property appropriation. The defendant’s husband, Mr. Tran Van Thang, was summoned to court as a person with related rights and obligations.

Throughout the trial, defendant Hien covered his face and cried. Photo: Tran Vu

In front of the witness stand, defendant Hien confessed that around mid-2017, due to the family's economic difficulties and the children's frequent illness, her husband intended to go abroad to work. Knowing that her husband was suffering from many illnesses, the defendant did not want him to go far away to work. In order for her husband not to have to go far away to work and for the family to have money, the defendant made up a story about winning 49 billion VND in Vietlott.

To prove that she had won the jackpot, the defendant invited her husband and a relative to go to the lottery headquarters in Hanoi to receive the money. However, when they arrived, the defendant told her relatives to stand outside and let her go in to receive the prize. Hien stated that she had carefully calculated the scam.

The drama that the defendant created completely won the trust of the family. At this time, in order to have money to give to relatives, the defendant thought of a way to defraud and appropriate the property of Ms. Ngo Thi Thuy D. (born in 1989, residing in Nghi Loc district). This person is related to Hien's husband and is a bank officer in Vinh city.

To make the victim believe him, the defendant used another SIM card to text Ms. D. that he had won 49 billion VND in the Vietlott lottery. However, the defendant fabricated that the money had been received by his sister but could not be used because it was stuck in a negative area and needed to be resolved. To make Ms. D. believe him, the defendant bought another SIM card and texted her impersonating a fortune teller. During this time, knowing that Ms. D.'s parents and brother owed 5 billion VND, the defendant promised to lend her the money when the money was resolved.

Knowing that Ms. D. was a superstitious person, Hien was even more skillful in "teasing" the spiritual story that her two deceased children had reincarnated as Ms. D.'s second child. Hien promised to give this child a portion of the money and would help Ms. D.'s family pay off the debt. The data that Hien provided made an educated person like Ms. D. completely believe it. Ms. D. had borrowed money many times to give Hien nearly 3.4 billion VND.

In August 2018, Ms. D. asked Hien to pay. At this time, because she had spent all her money and could not pay, Hien continued to create a Facebook page "Tran Thuy" - pretending to be an acquaintance abroad and texting Ms. D. saying that she had an insurance package that was paid 20 billion VND but had not yet reached the due date. If she wanted to pay, she had to give it to Hien to take care of the procedures first. Trusting her, Ms. D. transferred more than 4.7 billion VND to Hien.

With the amount of more than 8 billion VND that she had defrauded from Ms. D., Hien used it to buy a car, a SH motorbike, gold, household items, lend money to relatives, and treat her child's illness. When she realized she had been defrauded, Ms. D. repeatedly asked Hien to return the money. Le Thi Hien returned more than 5.3 billion VND to Ms. D., including cash and converted land, motorbikes, and cars. On June 7, 2019, Le Thi Hien was arrested by the authorities.

The heartbreaking cry of two children

Mother gets in trouble with the law because of greed, leaving the children the ones who suffer the most. Photo: Tran Vu

Attending the trial as a person with related obligations, the husband said he did not know his wife had deceived him. He stated that at first, when his wife said she had won the Vietlott lottery, he did not believe it. When he questioned his wife, Hien insisted that she had really won the lottery.

“Many times when money was transferred to my account, she said it was Vietlott’s interest. I believed it more and more, because if Hien borrowed money at a high interest rate, the debtor would come to collect it. It was not until the incident was exposed that I realized my wife had deceived me. I sincerely apologize to Ms. D. Before the victim, this person promised to work and save money to pay off Ms. D’s debt,” said Mr. Thang.

In her final words, Le Thi Hien cried and apologized to her relatives: “I am an unfilial child, because of me my parents are humiliated. Dad, I apologize to you.” After saying that, Hien turned to apologize to her husband: “Honey, I was wrong. Please take care of the children for me.” Hien’s tearful apologies made the relatives sitting below sob.

The father with salt-and-pepper hair and a sunburnt face could only wipe away his tears with his rough hands. “Don’t worry, my son, you’ll reform yourself.” That seemed to be the only thing this father could say calmly enough to encourage his erring son in court.

Taking advantage of the courtroom's deliberations, the father quickly brought his two grandchildren in to see their mother. While the first child burst into tears as soon as she saw her mother, the younger child, who was 1 year younger, appeared frightened and did not let Hien hold her. Helpless, Hien had to hand the child over to her relatives while sobbing.

As for her first child, Hien raised her handcuffed hands and hugged her baby to kiss her to satisfy her longing. Being held by her mother after a long time apart, the child kept burying his face in her body, not wanting to leave. When her relatives took her outside, the 3-year-old child suddenly burst into tears, calling out, “Mommy.” Hearing the sobbing of her little child, Hien was helpless, only able to look at her children in tears.

For the crime of Fraudulent appropriation of property, Le Thi Hien was sentenced to 14 years in prison. The defendant was forced to return more than 2.6 billion VND to the victim.