Extortion using sensitive video clips, theft of 1,200 surveillance cameras.

The Hanoi People's Procuracy has just completed the indictment against defendant Nguyen Quoc Viet (born in 1994, from Quang Tri province) for the crime of...Fraudulent appropriation of propertyAccording to the allegations, Gotech Company was founded by Viet and his wife, Nguyen Thi Thu H., and its business activities included the installation of surveillance cameras.

The Vietnamese couple's company is a long-standing business partner of Vu Hoang Joint Stock Company. The two companies have repeatedly signed contracts for the purchase and sale of goods, with full and timely payments and delivery, without any conflicts or disputes.

Around May 2023, due to losses in real estate business and the need for money to pay debts and personal expenses, Viet, taking advantage of the business relationship between the two companies, conceived the idea of ​​defrauding his partner to seize his assets.

On June 19th and 21st, 2023, Nguyen Quoc Viet used fraudulent tactics to deceive Vu Hoang Joint Stock Company into selling him 1,200 surveillance cameras with a total value of over 522 million VND. After receiving the goods, Viet did not pay his partner but instead misappropriated the cameras, selling them to two other partners for over 454 million VND to fund his personal expenses.

After Vu Hoang Joint Stock Company repeatedly demanded payment, Viet transferred 100 million VND. The investigating agency also clarified that, although he did not have cameras to sell, Viet provided false information to Phan Van Cong and Phan Van Gioi, claiming that he had a batch of 690 surveillance cameras at a good price.

Viet requested customers to transfer an 80% deposit in advance. After receiving deposits totaling over 234 million VND from two customers, Viet embezzled the money and spent it all. The indictment states that the defendant Nguyen Quoc Viet defrauded over 757 million VND, of which 100 million VND has been repaid.

During questioning at the investigative agency, Viet confessed that due to losses in real estate business and his inability to repay debts, he was being threatened by creditors, which led him to conceive the idea of ​​appropriating the victims' assets. He used the stolen money to repay debts to unknown creditors.

Prior to being prosecuted for fraud and misappropriation of property under the aforementioned charges, on May 21, 2024, the People's Court of Cam Le District, Da Nang City, sentenced Viet to 3 years and 6 months in prison for extortion and 4 years in prison for fraud and misappropriation of property.

According to the case file, the company owned by the Vietnamese couple, which specializes in the installation of surveillance cameras, is headquartered in Thanh Khe District, Da Nang City.

In late 2022, Viet was assigned to install six security cameras with a DVR at Ms. H's house (in Da Nang). During the installation process, Viet both set up camera accounts for Ms. H and installed camera accounts on his own phone for management.

In September 2023, Viet had accumulated significant debt and was unable to repay it. He then conceived the idea of ​​logging into previously installed security camera accounts to find sensitive images and videos of his clients, and then sending threatening messages to extort money from them.

Viet accessed the account, recorded sensitive clips of Ms. H., saved them on his phone, and then called Ms. H. to inform her that he had two sensitive clips of her.

Nguyen Quoc Viet demanded that Ms. H. transfer 130 million VND in order to delete the sensitive video clip. Ms. H. negotiated the price down to 110 million VND, which Viet accepted. Afterwards, she reported the incident to the police.

Additionally, victims in Da Nang and Quang Ngai have filed complaints alleging that Viet defrauded them, stealing four iPhone 11 Pro Max phones worth over 45 million VND, eleven other iPhones worth over 50 million VND, and 40 million VND in cash.