Mercedes scratching incident: Defendant receives suspended sentence, ordered to compensate car owner nearly 700,000 VND

A woman who scratched a Mercedes parked in front of her house was sentenced by the court to a six-month suspended term, along with an order to pay 6.8 million VND in compensation. Of this, 671,000 VND is for the car owner, and the remainder for the insurance company.

On 28/9, the Hanoi Regional People's Court 4 convicted Mai Thi Bich Van, 65, residing in Dai Mo ward, of intentional damage to property.

The incident occurred on the evening of 18/1 when Ngoc parked her Mercedes GLC 200 in front of Van's house to visit a nearby restaurant. Thirty minutes later, Van found her gate blocked by the car, with potted plants on both sides preventing her from moving her motorbike out. She used a key to scratch the car door three times and broke the rearview mirror. Van's daughter then hit the car window with a helmet.

According to the indictment, Van and her daughter verbally abused the car owner and made additional scratches with the key. After searching for the car owner without success and finding no contact number, Van's husband placed a potted plant in front of the oto and left a note stating, "Parking to block the homeowner's entrance is thoughtless."

Later that evening, Ngoc returned, removed the notes, drove her car home, and reported the incident to the police. Investigators determined the total damage to the vehicle amounted to 6.8 million VND.

Defendant Van at the court hearing in July. Photo: Hai Thu

Ngoc initially demanded over 600 million VND in compensation during the first court hearing in July. This amount included 116 million VND for car repairs at a garage, 35 million VND per month for seven months of lost car rental income, over 5 million VND for taxi expenses due to lack of transportation, 100 million VND for legal fees, and 100 million VND for the car's depreciation. She also claimed 50 million VND for mental distress and alleged Facebook hacking, which she attributed to the incident gaining online attention.

However, the court discovered the car was mortgaged to a bank for an 800 million VND loan. Consequently, the court returned the case file for additional investigation to clarify these new details.

The supplementary investigation revealed that Ngoc had borrowed 800 million VND from a bank in June, using the Mercedes as collateral for the loan. The bank stated that the damage to the car in this incident did not significantly reduce its value. The bank made no claims and declined to participate in the proceedings.

The indictment also stated that the Mercedes was covered by physical damage insurance. Following the incident, some areas of the car were repainted at a total cost of 8.2 million VND. Ngoc paid 2 million VND, while the insurance joint venture covered 6.2 million VND.

In its verdict, the court acknowledged these payments. The total damage was determined to be over 6.8 million VND, with 6.2 million VND already paid by the insurance company. At the trial, the insurance company sought reimbursement for the amount it had paid. The court therefore ordered defendant Van to compensate the insurance company 6.2 million VND and the victim Ngoc over 671,000 VND.