The arrest of "Hung Kinh": From a boss who oppressed small traders to being prosecuted

"Robbers" are rampant at Long Bien market

Three months ago, after receiving a complaint from small traders at Long Bien market (Hanoi), a group of reporters from Vietnam Television (VTV) posed as small traders to investigate the "protection" ring at Long Bien market led by boss Nguyen Kim Hung (aka Hung "Kinh").

At that time, Hung "Kinh" was the head of the cargo handling team at Long Bien market and under Hung "Kinh" were four capable juniors: Duong Quoc Vuong (aka Vuong "Lon", 50 years old, residing in Hoang Mai district), Nguyen Manh Long (aka Long "Cao", 56 years old, residing in Thanh Xuan district), Le Thanh Hai (aka Hai "Gio", 55 years old, residing in Hoang Mai district), Nguyen Huu Tien (aka Tien "Hoi").

Among the juniors, those who regularly appear to collect protection money from small traders at Long Bien market include "Hai Gio", "Long Cao" and "Vuong Lon".

These are 3 of 10 people in loading team number 2 led by Hung “Kinh”. These people all signed seasonal contracts with the Long Bien Market Management Board.

Under the guise of being a cargo unloading team under the Market Management Board, if anyone does not comply, they will force the owners to hire cargo unloaders, even if the traders do not need them.

Every day, the cargo handling team meets at around 7am to summarize the money collected from the previous day. Most surprisingly, there are meetings where they also discuss how to deal with the police about the money collected, as reported by reporters.

A merchant said that in order to do business in the market, a shop owner needs a parking space to deliver goods to the kiosk.

According to the regulations of Long Bien Market Management Board, each vehicle entering the gate must pay a ticket based on its weight, from 15,000 - 60,000 VND/trip, the vehicle that enters first will park first. Once the gate ticket is purchased, the Market Management Board is responsible for assisting traders in regulating and arranging parking spaces.

Hai "Gio", a junior of Hung "Kinh", collects parking fees from small traders.

However, things are not that simple. After the car enters the parking lot, the trader must pay a parking fee, a fee that is not listed in the regulations or any other documents of the market. The person in charge of collecting the money is the market's loading and unloading team, the juniors of Hung "Kinh".

The money is collected based on the vehicle's load capacity, from 200,000 to 350,000 VND/trip, also under the name of loading and unloading fees. But in reality, the traders who have paid the money still have to have their own people loading and unloading the goods, the people in Hung "Kinh" group only come to collect the money.

Hiding behind the guise of being part of the Market Management Board, Hung "Kinh"'s group blatantly disregarded the law and acted arbitrarily to harass. Some small traders who protested were also oppressed and exploited mercilessly by this "boss" group using all sorts of tricks such as blocking vehicles, causing trouble, arranging rotten fish in seats...

Such an unreasonable amount of money, but for many years, many small traders have had to grit their teeth and pay. Because, for traders, especially fruit traders, not having a place to park their vehicles to load goods means bankruptcy.

To do business in peace, many small traders, despite being oppressed too much, do not dare to speak up or sue the Market Management Board or the authorities. They said that partly because they are afraid of "big brother" Hung "Kinh", and partly because they heard this "boss" boast about having extensive relationships with many authorities.

After more than 2 months of investigation, on September 20, 2018, Vietnam Television broadcast a report recording images of gangsters under the name of unions, loading and unloading teams, transporting and guarding, blatantly collecting parking fees and exploiting small traders, shocking public opinion.

A quick meeting with Hung "Kinh"

On the afternoon of September 21, 2018, after taking advantage of his connections, the reporter was able to contact Hung "Kinh". On the phone, Mr. Hung asked carefully and then invited the reporter to his private home to talk.

Mr. Hung's spacious house is located in a prime location on Hang Dau Street (Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi). From here, it takes less than 5 minutes to get to Long Bien Market.

Before the conversation, Mr. Hung did not allow the reporter to record or take pictures. This man poured water and then took out a set of documents. Mr. Hung said he had not slept all night after VTV published the report with him as the main character.

Mr. Hung confirmed that the man in a white suit and scarf who was loudly cursing the merchant in the report was indeed him. This man later explained that he was falsely accused.

"Hung Kinh" boss.

"At that time, I only reminded people because they parked on the street because the regulations said they were not allowed to park on the street. Then they argued and said they had to register with the management board, so I said, 'If anyone is interested, call them down here. From tomorrow, parking on the street is prohibited to avoid traffic jams and for people to continue doing business.' It was not a form of threat," Mr. Hung said.

From the kitchen, the woman believed to be Mr. Hung's wife also came out to talk. This woman added: "When people posted it, my husband was startled because he was not wrong. My husband is a member of the Market Management Board - Team leader of Team 2 of the unloading team."

Mr. Hung then gave the reporter some documents, including a petition sent to relevant parties after VTV's report. In the petition, Mr. Hung wrote that he is a good citizen, always obeying the law. Mr. Hung also affirmed that he is: "A special agent of the Hanoi City Police. During the period from 1991 to 1996, I reported to solve the Khanh 'Trang' case".

The conversation with Mr. Hung lasted only 5 minutes, Mr. Hung then gently dismissed the reporter saying he was having lunch and forbade his wife from continuing to share.

The "robbers" were brought to light

On September 21, 2018, the Hanoi People's Committee issued a document requesting the Hanoi Police to urgently investigate and strictly handle those who violate the law.

After VTV's report, the police started investigating the 'protection racket' at Long Bien market. (Photo cut from video)

As of September 24, 2018, the Long Bien Market Management Board temporarily suspended the collection of fees for loading and unloading goods at this market. At the same time, it suspended two employees in the loading and unloading team, Le Thanh Hai (Hai "Gio") and Nguyen Manh Long (Long "Cao"), and notified the police to investigate and clarify.

Then, on September 30, 2018, the People's Committee of Ba Dinh District decided to temporarily suspend the work of 1 Deputy Manager of Long Bien Market Management Board and directed the Market Management Board to temporarily stop the operations of 2 loading and unloading teams in the Long Bien market area.

After nearly 2 months of investigation, on December 5, 2018, Hanoi City Police prosecuted and temporarily arrested Duong Quoc Vuong (aka Vuong "Pig"), Nguyen Manh Long (aka Long "Cao") and Le Thanh Hai (aka Hai "Gio") for the crime of "Extortion of property".

At the 2018 Year-end press conference of the Ministry of Public Security, Colonel Nguyen Van Vien - Deputy Director of Hanoi City Police said that the Hanoi City Police Department has prosecuted and temporarily detained Nguyen Kim Hung (aka Hung "Kinh") and Nguyen Huu Tien (aka Tien "Hoi") to investigate the act of "Extortion of property".

Police accused Hung Kinh of being the mastermind along with four others in the cargo handling team at Long Bien market of extorting property from many small traders.

A few weeks before his arrest, Hung Kinh realized that he was being targeted by the investigation agency, so he asked to be hospitalized for an organ transplant. However, the investigation agency knew that Hung Kinh was trying to avoid this, so they invited him to the police station and read out the arrest warrant.

According to Colonel Nguyen Van Vien - Deputy Director of Hanoi City Police, this is a sophisticated crime of extortion. When their images were broadcast on television, Hung "glasses" and his accomplices threatened the traders, so many people did not dare to continue reporting. The investigation agency secretly set up a mailbox, calling on traders to provide documents to the investigation agency to strengthen the evidence.

The investigation agency has examined the sound and voice, but has not yet been able to accuse the protection group of receiving money. Even "when summoning the 'protection' group, they all stated that the money collection was due to a loading agreement with the merchants, there was no bribery involved," Mr. Vien added.

During an urgent search of the office of the Deputy Manager of Long Bien Market, the investigation agency seized 23 boxes of documents. However, the invoices had been erased and edited, so it only proved that this group extorted 17 million VND from small traders.

By the evening of the same day (January 4, 2018), the authorities were present at the house of Nguyen Kim Hung (Hung "glasses") at 11 Hang Bong (Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi) to execute a search warrant.

A police officer present at the search said that Hung "glasses" has been temporarily detained for investigation by Hanoi City Police.