On 16/9, Duong Chuong, 47, from Phu Tho province, was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Hanoi People's Court for fraud. In 2024, Chuong was sentenced to 13 years in prison for the same crime in a different case.

In this case, Chuong was accused of defrauding a businessman of 5.4 billion VND for the cost of "legalizing" paperwork for two imported Bentley cars that had not been registered or issued license plates in Vietnam.

Defendant Duong Chuong at the court. Photo: Danh Lam

Defendant Duong Chuong at the court. Photo: Danh Lam

The indictment states that in late 2014, businessman Thang, from Hanoi, asked a friend in the US to buy a black Bentley for 200,000 USD. The car arrived at Dinh Vu port (Hai Phong) in late 2015. Thang hired a service to handle temporary import procedures for a period of three years, with diplomatic exemptions by "borrowing the name" of a foreigner working in Vietnam. In reality, Thang managed and used the car.

In 2016, he bought a gray Bentley without papers for 3 billion VND. The owner promised to hand over the paperwork and import documents but later failed to do so.

Because the two cars were imported without proper documentation, Thang needed to legalize the records by making them appear as if they were liquidated state-owned vehicles, then auctioned and repurchased, and finally registered with Vietnamese vehicle certification and license plates.

Working in the same car business, Thang knew Chuong. Knowing Thang's needs, Chuong boasted that his father was the Deputy Chief Inspector of Phu Tho Provincial Police, and that he worked in the General Staff Division of Viet Tri City Police.

Thang believed Chuong's connections could help him, so he asked for assistance. Chuong claimed he only needed photos of the two cars to complete the process and quoted a price of 5.4 billion VND, with a 2 billion VND deposit. Thang agreed.

In November 2016, Chuong received the money and wrote a receipt stating that he had received 2 billion VND from Thang to process the Bentley permits, guaranteeing completion within two weeks. However, nearly two years later, with no progress, Chuong still demanded Thang pay the remaining 3.4 billion VND, "otherwise the 2 billion VND deposit would be lost." After receiving the full amount, Chuong again wrote a commitment to deliver the car documents within three days.

The con artist used the money to open a pangasius restaurant.

The People's Procuracy accused Chuong of taking the 5.4 billion VND and, instead of helping Thang, using the money to open a pangasius restaurant in Bac Tu Liem district (Hanoi).

A year later, when Thang demanded a refund, Chuong claimed he had lost money in the restaurant business and asked to pay in installments, but Thang refused. Chuong then promised to mortgage the two restaurants to Thang if he couldn't repay the full amount within three months.

In June 2019, seeing no action from Chuong, Thang visited the two restaurants, only to find they had closed and been sold to others. Unable to contact Chuong, Thang reported the incident to the police. To date, Chuong has repaid Thang over 1.5 billion VND, leaving a debt of nearly 3.9 billion VND.

Regarding the gray car, after realizing he couldn't obtain legitimate papers, Thang forged a registration certificate and gave it to someone else to use. For this act, in 2022, Thang was sentenced by the Hoan Kiem District People's Court to 2 years and 2 months in prison for forging seals and documents of agencies and organizations. The car was confiscated.

As for the black car, registered with diplomatic plates to benefit from tax incentives and registration procedures, the People's Procuracy determined this act showed signs of tax evasion and separated the file for further processing.

Hai Thu