Exposing the tactics of land brokers who turn other people's land into their own.

Turning other people's land into our own.

Mai Van Minh (30 years old), residing in Nghi Phong commune, now Vinh City, works as a laborer.real estate brokerLater, Minh shifted his focus to land speculation. In early 2023, due to investment losses and accumulated debts, Minh borrowed money from many people, totaling nearly 6 billion VND.

At this time, Minh was handling land subdivision procedures, land donation for road construction, and land use rights transfer, and was therefore in possession of land use right certificates belonging to three residents in Nghi Phong commune. Due to pressure from lenders and the need for money to repay debts, and taking advantage of the victims being elderly and infirm individuals lacking knowledge of land procedures, Mai Van Minh conceived the idea of ​​defrauding and seizing the land use rights of the households he had entrusted with handling land procedures.

On August 20, 2023, taking advantage of Mr. Hoang Van V.'s request to handle the procedures for donating land for a road and subdividing the plot, Minh went to his house to commit fraudulent acts. Minh tricked Mr. and Mrs. V. into signing four blank sheets of paper, signing their names, and affixing their fingerprints to the third two sheets of the land use rights transfer contract for a plot of land with an area of ​​1,062 square meters.²To avoid arousing suspicion from Mr. and Mrs. V, Minh lied, saying it was a procedure for donating land for a road and subdividing the land.

At that time, Minh owed Mr. Bui Duc H. 600 million VND, so on August 25, 2023, he contacted Mr. H. to go to the notary office together to sign, fingerprint, and notarize the contract for the transfer of land use rights.

Although he didn't meet the landowner at the notary office, Mr. H. agreed to sign and fingerprint the pre-printed land transfer contract because he believed Minh's claim that he had purchased the land. After signing and notarizing the land transfer contract, Minh borrowed another 1.1 billion VND from Mr. H. The total amount Mai Van Minh borrowed from Mr. H. was 1.7 billion VND.

Subsequently, because Minh failed to repay the 1.7 billion VND debt, Mr. H. submitted an application to the One-Stop Service Department of the Nghi Loc District People's Committee (Nghe An province) to process the transfer of land use rights. Mr. H. was then granted a land use certificate ("red book") by the authorities for the aforementioned plot of land.

Investigators determined that from August 2023 to January 2024, using the aforementioned scheme, Mai Van Minh transferred ownership of three plots of land belonging to three victims in Nghi Phong commune, with a total value exceeding 17.7 billion VND. One of these plots measured 1,062 square meters.²valued at over 4.1 billion VND; the plot of land has an area of ​​1,849 square meters.²valued at over 10 billion VND; and a plot of land measuring 630m².²worth over 3.2 billion VND.

On June 3, 2024, after learning that their land had been transferred to someone else, the victims reported Mai Van Minh's fraudulent activities to the Nghe An Provincial Police. The following day, during questioning at the investigative agency, Minh surrendered and admitted his criminal actions.

Confession of the scammer

At the trial, the defendant admitted to the crimes as charged in the indictment. Minh confessed that due to business losses and mounting debts, he committed the fraud against the victims. He also admitted to taking advantage of the victims' lack of knowledge, particularly their age, as they were elderly and unfamiliar with land-related procedures, often failing to carefully read the documents he provided. This allowed him to easily trick the victims into signing blank papers, thus enabling him to carry out the fraudulent scheme.

Attending the trial, the victims stated that they trusted the defendant, who was from the same village, worked as a "land broker," and was knowledgeable about land procedures, so they had no suspicions. When the defendant presented the documents and asked them to sign, they did not reread the contents because they trusted him. They had complete and absolute faith in the defendant until they discovered that their land had been transferred to someone else.

One of the victims sadly explained that, due to their family circumstances, they had asked Minh to handle the procedures to sell a portion of their land to fund the construction of a house. However, Minh used fraudulent tactics to deceive them. The defendant's actions have plunged their family into dire straits.

In the presence of the public attending the court, the panel of judges reminded everyone to be more cautious in procedures related to land. They emphasized the importance of never signing blank papers without clearly written content at the request of others. Before signing or affixing a fingerprint, it is crucial to carefully read the content. Carelessness or negligence can allow unscrupulous individuals to commit fraudulent acts, causing harm to oneself.

Presenting arguments in court, the representative of the People's Procuracy of Nghe An province stated that, due to needing money to pay debts and for personal expenses, Minh used many fraudulent methods to deceive the victims. The defendant's criminal behavior was reckless, audacious, and showed disregard for the law, therefore requiring strict punishment.

The court determined that the defendant's criminal act directly violated the property rights of citizens protected by law, affecting public order and security in the locality, and therefore required strict punishment. However, some mitigating circumstances such as remorse and honest confession should also be considered. After a comprehensive review of the case, the court sentenced Mai Văn Minh to 17 years in prison for the crime of fraud and appropriation of property.

Although the fraudster has paid the price for his crime, the case serves as a cautionary tale for people dealing with land-related procedures. When needing to complete administrative procedures, especially those related to land title documents, people should go directly to state offices and agencies, rather than through intermediaries, to avoid financial losses and other problems.