On 17/7, Pham Thi Hong Lien, 40, from Le Chan district, Hai Phong city, was sentenced to 13 years in prison by the Hanoi People’s Court for fraud and embezzlement.
Lien had a previous suspended sentence of 36 months issued in 2022 by the People’s Court of An Duong district (former), Hai Phong city, for the same crime.
The indictment stated that Lien, a ninth-grade dropout with no job, devised a plan to defraud others for money. She used a false name and claimed to be a lieutenant colonel in the General Department of Intelligence, Ministry of National Defense, and an advisor to the Pencak Silat team for the 31st SEA Games. She used this identity to connect with Mr. Dien, a secondary school teacher in Bac Giang province (former), on Facebook.
They began a relationship and met frequently in Hanoi. Lien told him she had successfully facilitated a job transfer for a teacher from Lam Dong province to Hanoi and could do the same for him, moving him from Bac Giang to Hanoi.
Lien found a job transfer application form for the education sector online, sent it to Mr. Dien, and asked for 90 million VND to "take care of things." The indictment revealed that Lien spent all the money but reassured her boyfriend that everything would be finalized in six months (August 2022).
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Pham Thi Hong Lien at the court. Photo: Danh Lam |
A few days later, Lien lied to her boyfriend about owning a coffee plantation in Lam Dong province and having a 30 million VND debt for fertilizer. When she mentioned borrowing money from a friend to repay the debt, Mr. Dien offered to pay it for her.
In April 2022, Lien suggested they buy a house together in Hanoi after his transfer. She sent him a picture of a five-story house listed for 2.2 billion VND, falsely claiming she could secure 1.6 billion VND towards the purchase. Later that month, Mr. Dien drove Lien to the bank and withdrew 500 million VND as his contribution.
Two weeks later, Lien was arrested by the Hai Phong City Police on a warrant for fraud and embezzlement in a different case. Mr. Dien lost contact with her.
On 1/7/2022, Lien was released on bail and confessed everything to Mr. Dien at her home in Hai Phong city. He then filed a police report.
Lien is accused of defrauding Mr. Dien of a total of 620 million VND, which she is currently unable to repay.
Hai Thu
