Despite being assigned the role of village head, Nguyen Cong Thang (born in 1957), residing in Hamlet 3, Yen Kien Commune, Doan Hung District, Phu Tho Province, neglected his duties and defrauded 13 people, appropriating nearly 700 million VND. The suspect is currently being detained by the Phu Tho Provincial Police Investigation Agency for further investigation.

According to verification by the Investigation Department of the Phu Tho Provincial Police, the criminal act of former village head Nguyen Cong Thang stemmed from a transaction involving organizing overseas labor export, but the partner defaulted on the payment. Under pressure from the daily interest payments, Mr. Thang decided to take a desperate gamble.

Having learned about the District People's Committee's plan to issue new and exchange land use right certificates for forest and rice fields for households in Yen Kien Thang commune, they proactively sought out several households in need; promising to handle the procedures for those who were unable to go in person.

The suspect is Nguyen Cong Thang.

From April to June 2013, Thang fraudulently obtained five land ownership certificates ("red books") from five households in Hamlet 3, Yen Kien Commune. After receiving the certificates, Thang did not proceed with the necessary procedures but kept them at home. When the victims inquired, Thang repeatedly made excuses, claiming he was processing the paperwork, and then stalled, failing to return the certificates.

During the investigation, the Phu Tho Provincial Police determined that after obtaining the land ownership certificates ("red books") of the households, Thang attempted to erase the names of those listed in some of the certificates. From September 2013 to August 2014, Thang mortgaged six of these certificates, obtaining money from four other victims.

One of them was Mr. Le Van Bon (residing in Doan Hung district), the owner of a pawn shop. At the end of September 2013, Thang brought his land ownership certificate ("red book") to Mr. Bon's pawn shop, using it as collateral to borrow 45 million VND for one month, with an interest rate of 2000 VND per 1 million VND per day.

Not only did Thang forge land ownership certificates, but he also forged motorcycle registration papers, using them as collateral to borrow and embezzle 45 million VND from Mr. Bon. During the search of Thang's residence, the investigating agency seized a color photocopier along with many tools and equipment used for forging documents. One detail is that because of his beautiful handwriting and ability to imitate, Thang directly wrote the printed words in the "land ownership certificates"...in a way that looked authentic.

The investigating agency also clarified that, through "arranging" procedures for exporting labor to Japan, Thang had defrauded many people, most of whom were acquainted with the former village head. To obtain the money, Thang promised to send his "victims" abroad for work with high salaries and simple procedures. Believing Thang, many people had to mortgage their land ownership certificates and other valuable assets to borrow money from banks to pay Thang.

The most "painful" case was that of Mr. Do Tien Cong (residing in Van Don commune, Doan Hung district), who was related to Thang. Around December 2013, Thang came to Cong's house, boasting about knowing Havimex Company in Hanoi, which needed to recruit people to learn Japanese for work.

From there, Thang suggested that Mr. Cong send his daughter to study Japanese and then work in Japan, at a cost of nearly 170 million VND. Mr. Cong would have to pay 100 million VND upfront, with the remainder deducted gradually from the worker's salary. Without any suspicion, Mr. Cong gave Thang 30 million VND.

In February 2014, Thang took Mr. Cong's daughter to Havimex Company in Hanoi to study Japanese, and paid the company 5 million VND for uniforms and 6 million VND for Japanese language lessons. A month later, Thang went to Mr. Cong's house again, claiming that a flight was imminent and demanding that the family pay 70 million VND. After receiving the money, Thang kept making excuses and avoiding Mr. Cong's family…

According to King Zhou