Pham Phuoc An, 55, from Quang Ngai, was temporarily detained on november 23 by the Da Nang Criminal Police Department for fraudulent appropriation of assets.

Pham Phuoc An upon arrest. *Photo provided by police*

Investigators reported that in august 2015, Mr. Tien, 51, a resident of Son Tra district, Da Nang, began receiving calls from two individuals who identified themselves as "Dung" and "Ba." They claimed to be employees of the Dak Lak Lottery Company and offered "insider numbers" for Mr. Tien to use in illegal lottery betting, on the condition that he would split the winnings with them.

Trusting their claims, Mr. Tien placed bets using the numbers provided by the group. He won the first two times and subsequently handed over half of his winnings to them. Once they had established his trust, the perpetrators demanded Mr. Tien transfer 1.4 billion VND, promising to provide "exclusive numbers for Da Nang." Mr. Tien made multiple transfers, fulfilling their requests. Subsequently, the group continued to provide numbers, but Mr. Tien stopped winning. Eventually, all contact was severed, prompting him to report the incident to the police.

Police identified Pham Phuoc An as the individual who impersonated a lottery employee and used the alias "Dung." An confessed that the person identifying as "Ba" was Nguyen Van Khanh, 44, from Dong Thap, who had falsely claimed to be the director of the Dak Lak Lottery Company. Of the fraudulently obtained funds, An retained 650 million VND, while Khanh kept 750 million VND.

The Da Nang Criminal Police Department is actively searching for Nguyen Van Khanh and urges him to surrender to authorities to receive leniency. A voluntary surrender and sincere confession will be a significant factor in considering reduced criminal liability.

Ngoc Truong

* Victim's name has been changed