On 4/12, defendant Nguyen Binh Dinh, 43 years old, Chairman of the Board of Directors of DKD Investment Construction and Trading Joint Stock Company, was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Hanoi People's Court for property misappropriation fraud.

Defendant Nguyen Binh Dinh in court. *Photo: Danh Lam*

The indictment states that in 4/2022, Mr. Hai and his wife, residing in Phu Dong commune, Hanoi, engaged a real estate broker, entrusting 24,2 billion VND to purchase two apartments in a project in Hung Yen.

By the end of that month, the initial broker failed to find a suitable property, returning 5 billion VND to Mr. Hai and introducing them to defendant Dinh, also a real estate broker. Dinh assured them of his capability to assist. Trusting him, the wealthy couple instructed the previous broker to transfer all remaining funds to Dinh to facilitate the house purchase.

After receiving the funds, Dinh did not purchase the apartments as promised. Instead, he misappropriated the money for debt repayment, online gambling, and personal expenses. When his gambling funds were depleted, Dinh requested more transfers, claiming they were for "house purchases," and received an additional 14,6 billion VND from Mr. Hai. The total amount Dinh received exceeded 33,7 billion VND.

Despite receiving multiple payments without securing a property, Dinh devised a strategy to maintain the trust of Mr. Hai and his wife, thereby avoiding demands for repayment.

On 24/6/2022, Dinh, representing DKD Investment Construction and Trading Joint Stock Company, signed a Capital Contribution Contract with Mr. Hai and his wife, confirming the receipt of 33,72 billion VND for the purchase of two apartments.

However, two months later, the couple inquired about their property. Dinh fabricated a story, claiming he had secured the purchase but that the local real estate market was unfavorable. He offered to help them sell it to invest in a more promising project.

Dinh continued to provide false information, claiming his company was investing in two highly profitable projects in Tu Liem ward and Gia Lam commune. He presented several project introduction documents to support his claims.

In reality, Dinh's company had not signed any investment contracts for these projects, nor was it authorized by the investor to sell apartments there. Nevertheless, Dinh told Mr. Hai that he had sold their two Hung Yen apartments to invest in two new projects in Hanoi, without specifying the number of apartments purchased or their prices.

The Procuracy alleged that Dinh continued to entice the wealthy couple to transfer more money for investment, promising high profits.

During their acquaintance, Dinh developed a romantic relationship with Mr. Hai's sister-in-law. They lived together as husband and wife but did not legally register their marriage. This deepened the trust Mr. Hai and his wife placed in Dinh, leading them to transfer additional funds as he requested.

The total amount Dinh received from them in this case, determined to be 78 billion VND, was entirely squandered on online gambling.

In mid-2023, the wealthy couple realized they had been defrauded and filed a complaint against their unofficial brother-in-law.

The defendant admitted to all alleged actions. Additionally, Dinh stated he had borrowed over 26 billion VND personally from Mr. Hai's wife on multiple occasions. He acted alone, without discussing or consulting with anyone during the commission of the crime.

According to his testimony, Dinh transferred money to accounts specified by the website "Mibet.net" to fund his gambling account, losing everything. He previously used a phone to access "Mibet.net" for gambling, but sold the device after depleting his funds.

As this website is based abroad, investigators could not retrieve Dinh's gambling history. Consequently, they could not determine the amounts he gambled, the betting limits, or which football matches he bet on, thus lacking sufficient grounds to prosecute Dinh for gambling.

Local People's Committees confirmed that no such projects, as advertised by Dinh to Mr. Hai and his wife, existed in their areas.

Hai Thu