On 30/6, Thanh, 37, was tried by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court for fraudulent appropriation of assets.
According to the indictment, in March 2022, during a land brokerage deal, Lieu Tan Thanh met Ms. Hong. The two later developed a romantic relationship and frequently stayed at hotels.
Thanh stated that he later felt guilty towards his wife, so he impersonated his wife and messaged Ms. Hong, claiming to have discovered their illicit relationship and threatening to tell her husband everything to end the affair.
Knowing Ms. Hong was fearful, Thanh continued to fabricate a story about knowing a "charm master" in An Giang who could perform bad luck removal ceremonies. The defendant bought a phone SIM card and created a Zalo account named "Thich Quang", impersonating the charm master to message Ms. Hong. He told her she was experiencing bad luck, had "hidden connections", was "haunted by spirits", and that her family was about to face disaster, demanding money for a bad luck removal ritual.
Believing him, from November 2022 to April 2023, Ms. Hong repeatedly transferred over 1.24 billion dong to accounts designated by Thanh. Thanh also instructed her to bury two SJC taels of gold in Binh Chanh district for "bad luck removal", then secretly dug them up, sold them, and used the money for personal expenses and debt repayment.
When she discovered that the account holders receiving the money were Thanh's acquaintances and that there was no "charm master" as introduced, Ms. Hong reported the incident to the police.
The indictment determined that by impersonating his wife and the "charm master", Thanh appropriated over 1.24 billion dong and two SJC taels of gold from Ms. Hong.
At today's hearing, Thanh admitted to all charges. Meanwhile, the victim's lawyer argued that the actual amount appropriated by the defendant was greater than stated in the indictment. As the victim had not yet confronted or reconfirmed the exact amount of damages with the investigating agency, the lawyer requested the court panel to return the file for additional investigation.
After several hours of questioning, the court panel decided to return the file for additional investigation due to new details requiring clarification.
Binh Nguyen
* Victim's name has been changed
