The People's Procuratorate of Lanzhou city, Gansu province, recently announced a case involving a defendant identified as Wang.

In 12/2025, Wang discovered that an online fraud group needed to launder money. He thought, "This is dirty money; stealing it isn't a crime."

Consequently, Wang falsely claimed he could provide bank cards to "forge bank statements for loan applications", thereby enticing the group to transfer funds into his account.

After receiving 200,000 yuan (777 million VND) from the fraud group, Wang misappropriated the money through transfers and withdrawals, spending it all on personal expenses.

Wang was prosecuted for fraud and misappropriation of property. Recently, following a public trial, Wang was sentenced to three years in prison, along with an order to compensate the amount he had misappropriated.

The People's Procuratorate highlighted that in legal practice, some individuals hold a serious misconception: "Money from fraud groups is inherently illegal. Therefore, if I defraud, rob, or embezzle their stolen funds, it's merely 'punishing the wicked', and it's not considered a crime."

This perspective may sound reasonable, but the law never views it that way.

According to the People's Procuratorate, money stolen by fraud groups is essentially the hard-earned savings, retirement funds, and lifelong savings of ordinary citizens who have been deceived. It is not ownerless money, nor is it a "grey area" that can be arbitrarily seized.

The country's law also stipulates that if someone steals, robs, defrauds, or seizes property, even if it is evidence or proceeds from criminal activities, they will be prosecuted and tried for theft, robbery, or fraud as usual.

Hai Thu (According to The Paper)