Exposing the fraud of appropriating billions of dong by 'land brokers' in Vinh city

Land deposit fraud tricks

37 years old, but this is the third time Tran Ngoc Thuong, resident of Dong Vinh ward, Vinh city, has had to stand before the witness stand for his mistakes. And while in previous sentences, Thuong only had to serve a short prison sentence, this time his criminal behavior was more reckless, causing serious consequences for the victims.

Previously, in 2003, Thuong committed robbery and was sentenced to 24 months in prison, suspended, and given a 36-month probation period. In 2014, Thuong committed robbery again and was sentenced to 36 months in prison. The defendant’s relatives had to compensate for the damage Thuong caused to the victim.

Defendant Tran Ngoc Thuong was sentenced to 14 years in prison. Photo: Tran Vu

It was thought that after two legal troubles, Thuong would change and become a new person. But her family's trust was shattered when Thuong was accused by some people of committing fraud and appropriating their money.

According to the indictment, Thuong worked as a real estate broker, but due to business losses and debt, he decided to commit fraud. One of the tricks Thuong used was to fraudulently sell plots of land that he did not own. It is worth mentioning that there were virtual plots of land that Thuong fraudulently sold to many people, appropriating nearly 1 billion.

Specifically, one day in March 2022, knowing that Ms. Le Thi D. wanted to buy land for investment, Thuong introduced herself as having a plot of land with an area of ​​195m2²in Cua Lo town, selling price is more than 4.2 billion VND. Seeing that the land plot is suitable for her investment needs, Ms. D. asked Thuong to take her to see it.

During the land viewing process, to gain the customer's trust, Thuong claimed that this was her land plot, currently mortgaged to the bank. Thuong opened her phone to show the customer a photo of the land use rights certificate of the land plot. In fact, this land plot did not belong to Thuong. The image of the "red book" was downloaded by Thuong from a real estate trading group on social networks. Trusting her, in the afternoon of the same day, Ms. D. signed a deposit contract with Thuong to buy and sell the land plot for 500 million VND. Receiving the above amount, Thuong spent it for personal use.

Defendant Tran Ngoc Thuong in court. Photo: Tran Vu

At the same time, Thuong also sent a photo of the "red cover" of the land plot in Cua Lo to another customer, quoting a price of 4.3 billion VND. After viewing the plot of land, Ms. Nguyen Thi Th. agreed to buy it. On March 28, 2022, Ms. Th. signed a contract with a deposit of 480 million VND for Thuong. But not long after, she discovered that Thuong also sold the plot of land to someone else, so she wrote a complaint to the police.

The investigation agency determined that from August 2020 to May 2022, Tran Ngoc Thuong committed 6 acts of fraud against 6 victims, appropriating more than 1.7 billion VND. In addition to the trick of selling land to receive deposits, Thuong also used debt collection tricks to appropriate other people's money.

Confession of the fraudster

At the trial, the defendant admitted all of his crimes. Thuong said that thanks to his real estate brokerage career, he once had a house, a car, and a comfortable life... But because he lost money investing in virtual currency, which led to debt, the defendant committed many fraudulent acts as charged in the indictment. The defendant paid off all the money he swindled and spent it on personal expenses.

The defendant stated that since falling into debt, he had seemingly lost everything, and had to sell his house. His wife decided to separate from him and raise their young children alone. The defendant stated that he was currently unable to pay, but promised that after his release from prison, he would try to work to pay back the money to the victims.

Some victims came to court to request that the defendant be tried according to the law. They stated that because they trusted Thuong, they were scammed, leading to the loss of money and having to pay interest every month.

Before the trial took place, the defendant’s family had recovered 400 million VND for the victims. Of which, the defendant’s brother had to sell his car to “save his brother”. The defendant felt guilty for affecting the reputation and honor of his brother who was working in the armed forces. It was also this brother who cried his eyes out because his brother had made many mistakes.

The victims came to court to ask the defendant to return the money. Photo: Tran Vu

At the trial, the presiding judge exclaimed: “The defendant has exhausted his family, because he has previously committed crimes twice. The day his brother came to court to submit documents showing partial compensation for the victims, he cried his eyes out. Does the defendant not feel ashamed of his actions?”. Before the court’s analysis and reminder, Thuong bowed his head for a few seconds and then apologized to the victims and his relatives.

Presenting the case in court, the representative of the People's Procuracy of Nghe An province stated that due to the need for money to pay debts and for personal expenses, Thuong used many deceitful tricks to defraud the victims, appropriating more than 1.7 billion VND. The defendant's criminal behavior was reckless, daring, and disregarded the law, so it should be dealt with severely.

The panel of judges determined that the defendant's criminal acts directly violated the property rights of citizens protected by law, affecting the security and order situation in the locality. In this case, the defendant had aggravating circumstances of committing the crime 2 times or more. However, it is also necessary to consider mitigating circumstances for the defendant such as his honest confession, remorse, and his influence on the family to compensate the victims 400 million VND. Considering the case comprehensively, the court sentenced Tran Ngoc Thuong to 14 years in prison, forcing the defendant to compensate all damages to the victims.

Being escorted home when the court ended, Thuong tried to look back to find his wife, children, relatives...