On 26/5, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court found Le Van Lanh, 63, a former journalist for Nguoi cao tuoi Magazine, guilty of property extortion. His son, Le Gia Bao, received a sentence of 12 years and six months for his role as an accomplice, while Nguyen Tuan Anh was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

The court determined that the defendants engaged in organized crime, infringing upon the property of others and negatively impacting traffic safety and social order. This necessitated severe penalties. However, the court also acknowledged several mitigating circumstances, including their participation in charitable activities, prior military service, and good personal backgrounds, which led to a reduction in their sentences.

**The Extortion Scheme**

The court's judgment revealed that Lanh had worked for various media agencies before joining Nguoi cao tuoi Magazine. Recognizing that many traffic police officers were apprehensive about being filmed or recorded while on duty, Lanh conceived a plan to exploit footage of their professional errors to exert pressure and demand money transfers.

Beginning in 2021, Lanh routinely trailed patrol teams from the Ho Chi Minh City Police Traffic Police Department. He secretly recorded incidents he deemed to be improper procedure, or situations involving arguments or raised voices with traffic violators. Subsequently, he would meet with leaders of the relevant teams to apply pressure and demand payments.

Initially, Lanh personally collected cash. In early 2023, he invited his son and Nguyen Tuan Anh to join the scheme, assisting with filming and receiving money.

**Arrest and Investigation**

On the afternoon of 22/4/2025, Tuan Anh was driving Bao on Vo Van Kiet Street when a Cho Lon traffic police team stopped their vehicle for changing lanes without signaling. During the inspection, both men claimed to be journalists and presented introduction letters from Nguoi cao tuoi Magazine. However, they lacked press cards and were asked to report to the station for questioning.

Upon examining Bao's phone, police discovered numerous money transfer transactions linked to traffic police officers in various localities. Bao admitted that these were monthly payments from officers to prevent the group from filming or recording their duty activities.

Following this discovery, the Traffic Police Department transferred the case files to the Ho Chi Minh City Police Investigation Agency to investigate the act of property extortion. Authorities further alleged that the group deliberately committed traffic violations to provoke traffic police stops, using these encounters as an excuse to film the officers at work. These videos were then used to exert pressure.

To conceal the origin of the funds, money was transferred through multiple accounts registered to Bao, Tuan Anh, and acquaintances, with transaction descriptions such as "buy newspaper," "rice money," or "transfer to Anh Lanh." The investigation concluded that from January 2023 to April 2025, Le Van Lanh and his accomplices extorted monthly payments ranging from 2 to 7 million dong from 30 traffic police officers, totaling over 1,5 billion dong.

**Court Testimony and Related Inquiries**

During the trial, Lanh admitted that the indictment's content was accurate, though he occasionally claimed that "some traffic police officers supported him with gas money when he was working on special assignments." He testified that he received approximately 5-7 million dong monthly from multiple officers, using accounts belonging to Bao and his partner to receive funds, or instructing Tuan Anh to collect money directly.

However, Lanh asserted that he never used images or videos to threaten traffic police officers. He claimed his meetings with team leaders were to "give books," and the recorded footage sent by Bao and Tuan Anh was merely stored as reference material.

In his final statement, Lanh expressed remorse, stating that this was his first mistake, which also implicated his son and his son's friend in legal trouble. He requested the court to consider a reduced sentence so he could return home sooner to care for his family. Bao and Tuan Anh admitted to their criminal acts, stating they received 200,000-300,000 dong for each time they helped Lanh receive money. They expressed regret and requested leniency from the court.

Regarding the actions of the traffic police officers, the Procuracy determined that while some officers were pressured by Lanh and his accomplices using images of professional errors to demand money, the investigating agency could not collect specific images as Lanh had deleted the data. Furthermore, Lanh consistently identified himself as a journalist during interactions with authorities but never presented official documentation. Nguoi cao tuoi Magazine also confirmed that Lanh was not assigned to any special topics related to traffic police patrol or violation enforcement activities.

Consequently, the investigating agency and the Procuracy concluded that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute the officers for bribery. Concerning the introduction letters issued by Nguoi cao tuoi Magazine to Le Van Lanh, which did not specify the purpose of contact or work, the investigating agency determined that these were meant to facilitate journalists' proactive engagement, not to abet criminal activity. Therefore, the individuals who issued the letters were not considered accomplices.

Binh Nguyen