The case of impersonating market management: Contradictions must be clarified!

The healer's account

Mr. Vi Van Hung said: On December 4, 2018, a group of people wearing market management uniforms came to his house in a blue car with license plate number 37A - 003.43. They parked the car far away, and 3 people went straight into the living room and said that there was a complaint against him for practicing medicine without a license, so they asked to check his license and practice certificate.

Mr. Hung looked at the complaint and saw that no one had signed it. He replied that his family had a traditional profession in treating bone and joint pain; he only took some leaves from the forest, brought them home, crushed them, and mixed them into medicine to help treat people with bone and joint diseases, so he did not have any practice certificate or license.

Image of a group of people wearing market management uniforms inspecting Mr. Vi Van Hung's house. Photo cut from clip

Hearing this, the group said that practicing medicine without a license was a violation of the law. They read out the regulations and affirmed that his violations would result in a fine of 60-70 million VND.

He said, if we have to pay that much fine, where will my family get it? This group of people asked, how will you accept it now? He said his family only has about 10 million VND. They said, then you should take the money.

A person took the initiative to enter the room and asked him to give them 6 million VND. So Mr. Vi Van Hung took 6 million VND and gave it to this person.

When he returned, someone in the group asked him how much money he had given the other person. He replied that he had given 6 million VND. Then, this person opened his briefcase and showed him a typed commitment, asking him to commit to completing the procedures to practice and trade traditional medicine.

The taking of 6 million VND was not recorded in a document or invoice. After Mr. Hung wrote the commitment as requested, the group left.

After a group of people wearing market management uniforms took 6 million VND from Mr. Hung, officials, people of Ngoc Lam commune and border guards stationed in the area came to visit.

Everyone was concerned, thinking that there was an impersonation. Because if he was a real market management officer, when he entered the border commune to work, he would have contacted the Border Guard Station, the commune government, etc. However, Mr. Hung thought that what was past should be let go.

Mr. Vi Van Hung and the envelope. Photo: PV

After a while, on December 27, 2018, a person came to his house claiming to be a "new officer of Market Management Team No. 8" and gave him an envelope and said he was there to return the 6 million VND.

He told this person: “What’s past is past, I won’t take the money back…”. However, this person still left the envelope on the table and left. Mr. Hung said: “Until now, I still keep the envelope intact, I haven’t opened it. I don’t know if there’s 6 million VND in it or not…”.

Information from Market Management Team No. 8

On January 4, 2019, Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung - Captain of Market Management Team No. 8, when asked, said that since December 2018, after Circular 35 of the Ministry of Industry and Trade took effect, inspection procedures must be followed according to regulations. Any inspection of any area must have a program and a work diary...

Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung affirmed: "Regarding the inspection of Ngoc Lam commune and Mr. Vi Van Hung's house, during the past time, the team did not have a program and did not send anyone to inspect that area...".

Leaders of Market Management Team No. 8 exchanged information with reporters on January 4, 2018. Photo: PV

However, Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung informed that he was told that on December 4, 2018, while on a business trip to Anh Son district, the team's officers stopped by Mr. Vi Van Hung's house. This working group consisted of 4 people, using a blue-plate car with the number 37A - 00 3.43 of the team, on a business trip to Anh Son district with the task of capturing the area.

The purpose of entering Mr. Vi Van Hung's house was to get medicine for the mother of Mr. Cuong, one of the members of the working group. The reason why they knew they were entering Mr. Vi Van Hung's house to buy medicine was because last year, an officer had also bought medicine from Mr. Hung to treat his wife and found it helped.

Question: Did your officers buy medicine from Mr. Vi Van Hung? According to Captain Nguyen Manh Hung, there was an argument between Mr. Vi Van Hung and the team's officers so your officers did not buy medicine.

The reason for the argument was because an officer went to Mr. Vi Van Hung’s private room to look inside to see if there was any medicine. Because ethnic minorities are very wary of strangers entering private rooms, the two sides argued, leading to not buying the medicine…?!.

The blue-plate car of Market Management Team No. 8 used to go on a business trip to Anh Son but "stopped by" Mr. Vi Van Hung's house. Photo: PV

Captain Nguyen Manh Hung also confirmed that the information he discussed above was reported by officers at two meetings held by Market Management Team No. 8 after the press reported that there were cases of impersonating market management officers to fine people.

He also said that all meeting minutes and reports had been sent to the Market Management Department; at the same time, Thanh Chuong District Police had summoned officers in the working group to Mr. Vi Van Hung's house on December 4, 2018 to work.

Conflict

Mr. Vi Van Hung's house has a camera installed. The camera is mounted in a position that records all images and activities taking place in the living room and private room. Therefore, the events and activities in Mr. Vi Van Hung's living room on December 4, 2018 were basically recorded by the camera.

The camera footage shows absolutely no signs of drug trafficking. Photo cut from clip

According to what the camera recorded, it shows a group of people wearing market management uniforms entering Mr. Vi Van Hung's house. When entering the house, this group of people carried briefcases, went straight to the living room and talked with Mr. Vi Van Hung at the coffee table. After a while, a person entered the room, Mr. Vi Van Hung followed.

When the two men returned, the camera recorded the image of Mr. Vi Van Hung and a person wearing a market management uniform sitting at the table drinking water. Here, this person opened his briefcase, took out a piece of paper for Mr. Hung to write on the paper. The images recorded by the camera lasted about 40 minutes. Through that, it can be seen that the group of people wearing market management uniforms came to Mr. Vi Van Hung's house not with the purpose of buying medicine, but to work.

At the same time, there was no argument between the two sides. From the images recorded by the camera, comparing with the report of Mr. Vi Van Hung, the information of the Captain of Market Management Team No. 8, Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung, there was a clear contradiction. That is, only Mr. Vi Van Hung's report matched the images recorded by the camera. Especially the last action of this group of people, pulling out a piece of paper from their bag for Mr. Vi Van Hung to write on.

Must be clarified

Mr. Vi Van Hung affirmed that on December 4, 2018, the group of people wearing market management uniforms when they came to his house did not mention buying medicine. And since he has been practicing until now, he has not seen any market management officers come to buy medicine. Only in October - November 2018, a group of people wearing market management uniforms came to his house and asked his wife: Is Mr. Hung home? That day, Mr. Hung was away. So when his wife replied that she was not home, they left.

According to Mr. Vi Van Tuyen - Secretary of the Party Committee of Ngoc Lam commune, up to now, he is still very confused about whether the group of people wearing market management uniforms are real or fake. However, according to common analysis, if they are real impersonators, after taking the money, they will never return it!

Mr. Vi Van Hung and Secretary of the Party Committee of Ngoc Lam Commune, Vi Van Tuyen, talked with reporters on January 4, 2019. Photo: PV

At present, Market Management Team No. 8 has confirmed that its officers visited Mr. Vi Van Hung's house on December 4, 2018; the Market Management Department has also temporarily suspended 4 officers of Market Management Team No. 8 for 15 days for violating industry regulations such as working privately during working hours; using public vehicles for private work; using industry uniforms for transactions and sales.

However, the question must be asked, the market management sector is a law enforcement agency, often facing sophisticated tricks of lawbreakers. So do they have any concerns about the contradictions between the reports of relevant officials, the images recorded by cameras, and the report of Mr. Vi Van Hung?

During the process of investigating the case, we found that the information provided by Mr. Vi Van Hung and the officials and people of Ngoc Lam commune; the images recorded by the camera, information about the pre-printed commitment form; the envelope containing money that Mr. Vi Van Hung is currently keeping... is enough to confirm that the incident of a group wearing market management uniforms extorting money from people is real. And these are also important clues and evidence to help law enforcement agencies clarify the case.

The case of a group of people in market management uniforms extorting money from people is receiving public attention. This is a bad image in society that needs to be eliminated. Therefore, it is recommended that law enforcement agencies urgently investigate, clarify, and identify the right subjects for strict handling.