Phuc (45, former CEO of Thien An Phat Real Estate Construction Joint Stock Company), was tried by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court for fraud and property embezzlement in late August. However, the trial was adjourned to 4/9 due to the absence of the defendant's lawyers.

Defendant Huynh Thi Hanh Phuc at court. Photo: Hai Duyen. *

The indictment states that, starting in late 2017, Phuc acquired several agricultural land plots in the former Thu Duc district. She then divided these plots into smaller parcels ranging from 50 to 240 square meters and commissioned drawings for non-existent housing projects, including Nguyen Xien Residential Areas 1, 2, and 3; Long Thuan Residential Area; Long Thanh My Residential Area; Bung Ong Thoan 2 Residential Area; and Linh Xuan Residential Area. In reality, Phuc had only signed deposit contracts, without fully paying for or transferring ownership of the land, nor completing the necessary procedures for land-use conversion or obtaining infrastructure investment permits.

Despite this, the former Thien An Phat CEO falsely advertised land-use rights and the legality of the projects, signing transfer contracts and soliciting investments from numerous clients, ultimately defrauding 82 people of over 192 billion VND.

Specifically, on 11/4/2018, Phuc signed a deposit contract with Nguyen Van Binh to purchase 3,900 square meters of garden land in Linh Xuan ward, former Thu Duc district, for over 60 billion VND, but only paid 34 billion VND. Without completing the ownership transfer, Phuc commissioned a plot division diagram named "Linh Xuan - Thu Duc Residential Area," then, through brokerage companies, signed 57 deposit and transfer contracts with 50 customers, collecting over 102 billion VND. When it came time to sign the notarized contracts, Phuc couldn't deliver the land as promised, only returning a portion of the money and defrauding 33 people of more than 81 billion VND.

Also in 2018, Phuc purchased nearly 5,400 square meters of land in Truong Thanh ward for over 80 billion VND, arranging for the landowner, Nguyen Thi Thuy, to retain ownership to maintain the validity of the existing infrastructure documents. Phuc then created the fictitious "Nguyen Xien 1 Residential Area" project, dividing and selling 48 plots to 33 customers, collecting over 59 billion VND.

Subsequently, Phuc had Thuy mortgage this land to a bank for 55 billion VND, but continued to sell overlapping plots to 17 customers, collecting an additional 31 billion VND. Furthermore, despite the land being mortgaged and several plots already sold, Phuc authorized others to dispose of the land, resulting in a further 90 billion VND being misappropriated.

Using a similar scheme, Phuc fabricated several other projects, fraudulently selling plots to numerous customers.

People surround Thien An Phat Real Estate, demanding prosecution of Phuc in 2020. Photo: Thien Long. *

Phuc is also accused of continuing to fraudulently transfer land she had already sold to other customers, falsely claiming ownership and defrauding dozens more people of over 173 billion VND.

Faced with insistent demands from numerous customers, Phuc offered to terminate contracts, promising refunds plus profits. However, she failed to make these payments or only paid small amounts.

During the land sales, Phuc hired brokerage companies to sign contracts and collect money from customers. However, authorities determined these companies only received brokerage fees as per their contracts, unaware that Phuc had mortgaged the land and continued to transfer it to others.

Other individuals hired by Phuc to sign contracts on her behalf were also determined to have only provided services according to their contracts and received service fees. Therefore, the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department did not pursue criminal charges against them.

Hai Duyen