Court invites 300 victims to trial of biggest fake war invalids 'running' ring in Nghe An

On May 29, 2018, the People's Court of Nghe An province brought the case of "fraudulent appropriation of property" to the first instance trial against the three defendants Ta Thi Van (56 years old, residing in Hung Binh ward, Vinh city), Ho Thanh Tung (60 years old, residing in Hung Phu commune, Hung Nguyen) and Nguyen Phuc Hong (64 years old, residing in Nam Thai commune, Nam Dan district).

Defendants Ta Thi Van, Ho Viet Tung, Nguyen Phuc Hong (from left to right) at the trial. Photo: An Quynh.

In early 2018, the People's Court of Nghe An province sentenced defendant Ta Thi Van to 14 years in prison for fraud and property appropriation. When Ho Thanh Tung and Nguyen Phuc Hong were arrested, the two defendants revealed new details, forcing the authorities to reopen a new investigation and retry defendant Ta Thi Van.

Today’s court was packed with attendees from early morning, they were not relatives of the defendants but victims summoned by the court. There were currently 321 defendants summoned to the court. There were people who only saw the faces of the “higher-ups” in the fake wounded soldiers trafficking ring that they were involved in today.

More than 300 victims were summoned to attend the trial, including victims from Ha Tinh, Ky Son, Hung Nguyen, and Nam Dan. Photo: An Quynh.

The war invalids “running” ring led by Ta Thi Van operated from around 2012 to the end of 2014. Through about 10 “henchmen” in the two provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh, this ring received tens of billions of dong from people across the country to “run” the regime and then “disappeared without a trace”.

According to the current indictment, there are more than 300 victims summoned in Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces. In which, each file of "running" war invalids costs an average of about 30 million VND.

Taking advantage of the difficulties and shortcomings in the process of preparing documents and procedures for reviewing policies and regimes; the lack of knowledge, gullibility and even greed of some people, the defendants used the trick of introducing themselves as having close relationships with people with functions and authority in reviewing and implementing policies and regimes.

As for defendant Van, who introduced herself as having a husband who was a Lieutenant Colonel in the army, working in the policy sector (Van and her husband sold their house and divorced after the network was exposed), in the process of contacting the "henchmen", she organized meetings, meals, promised the subjects that she knew this person or that person, and gave them their contact phone numbers as proof.

They even used themselves as evidence to create trust for the victims, then received money and documents from many people. For example, defendant Ho Thanh Tung bragged to everyone that he was entitled to the war invalid regime because Ta Thi Van helped him run it. Other "henchmen" let people know that they knew many people who worked on policies from the central to local levels; they could "run" to upgrade the war invalid status, war invalid regime, and Agent Orange. Believing in the defendants' perfect cover, many veterans did not hesitate to gather documents and money to meet...

After paying the full amount, these veterans were taken to several hospitals in Vinh City for examination, which the defendants said was a “physical examination” but in reality, they just came to get their blood drawn and then left. After that, the defendants promised the victims that “from 6 months to 1 year later, they will start enjoying the regime”.

After waiting for many years but not seeing the promised policies, many people turned to the "henchmen" to demand their money back. Under this pressure, the ringleaders fled one by one, leaving behind the "henchmen" who had to sell their houses to pay back the money to the victims.

At today's trial, 120 victims were absent. The panel of judges decided to postpone the trial to ensure the rights of the absent victims as well as to try the defendants for the right person, the right crime, and the right law. The victims present today said they hoped the court would quickly try the case and restore justice because it was all the hard-earned money, the hard work and savings of a lifetime, and because of a momentary mistake, their families were left in a state of financial loss.