Ngo Trong Duc, 29 years old, residing in Khoai Chau, Hung Yen, was recently prosecuted by the Hanoi People's Procuracy for fraudulent appropriation of property.
According to the indictment, starting in 5/2021, Duc was employed by a technology company as a repair technician for visual interactive banking machines (VTMs). He was assigned to maintain two bank machines in the Doi Can area of Ba Dinh, Hanoi.
During routine maintenance on 27/11/2024, Duc discovered an error with the NF device, a component responsible for identifying, counting, and verifying banknotes. He reported the issue to the bank and scheduled a return visit for repairs.
On 2/12/2024, Duc returned to replace and repair the NF device. After completing the work, the machine functioned normally.
While working at this branch, Duc became acquainted with Huong, a transaction controller. Needing money for online gambling, Duc devised a plan to embezzle funds from the bank. He intended to claim he needed cash to test the VTM's denomination reader and would ask Huong to lend him the money.
To execute his plan, despite the machine being fully repaired, Duc falsely reported on the company's system that the NF device still required replacement. He then went to the company to collect this device.
On 3/12/2024, Duc brought the NF device to the bank branch, pretended to perform a replacement, and then asked Huong to lend him cash to "test" the machine.
Trusting him, Huong agreed and directed Duc to the teller to receive the money.
The indictment states that from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the same day, Huong and the teller, on eight occasions, handed Duc a total of 600 million dong in cash from the bank's vault.
After receiving the money, Duc transferred 559 million dong to 12 different accounts for gambling via the Sun Win application and lost it all. The remaining 41 million dong was left by Duc in a compartment above the VTM, as he had not yet deposited it to continue gambling.
That afternoon, the teller repeatedly requested the money's return, but Duc cited unfinished work as an excuse to delay. He eventually admitted to embezzling the money and losing it all through gambling.
Duc returned the remaining 41 million dong. He was then detained by bank staff, who reported the incident to the police.
The investigating agency examined the Sun Win gambling application on Duc's phone to verify his statements. However, at the time of inspection, the application no longer existed, preventing the collection of transaction history. Consequently, Duc was solely prosecuted for fraudulent appropriation of property.
Regarding the two bank employees who violated internal vault management procedures, they proactively reported the incident to their leadership. At the time of the occurrence, Huong voluntarily deposited 559 million dong to compensate the bank's fund. The bank suffered no financial loss and did not request prosecution.
Duc's family compensated Huong 104 million dong, and she submitted a petition to reduce the defendant's criminal liability.
Hai Thu
