The Hanoi Police on June 21 announced results of the preliminary investigation into a case involving a ring pretending to be military officers to swindle and appropriate other people’s assets.
Hoa Huu Long (third, right) and his accomplices (Source: tuoitre.vn)
According to Colonel Nguyen Anh Tuan, Deputy Director of the municipal police, investigation into the case began as a result of information sharing between the military security agency and Hanoi Police and letters of denunciation filed by a number of citizens reporting a group of persons faking the Defence Ministry’s decisions on the establishment of a so called Dong Duong Group to swindle assets.
On April 14 this year, the Hanoi police initiated legal action into the case, prosecuted and detained five defendants on the charge of swindling to appropriate other people’s assets.
The five defendants are Hoa Huu Long, born in 1964, Nguyen Minh Son (47 years old), Mac Phuc Hai (54), Cao Thi Kim Loan (Long’s wife, 48) and Phung Thi Thanh Hue (40). They all reside in Hanoi.
According to the initial investigation results, Long and his accomplices used faked decisions of the Defence Ministry to make their target victims believe that the ministry is establishing Dong Duong Group, and promise to help them get a job in the group.
The ring had received tens of billions of Vietnam dong from about 1,000 job seekers across the country. They also got money from businesses which wanted to be contractors of Dong Duong group’s projects.
The Hanoi Police coordinated with relevant agencies of the Defence Ministry to confirm that the ministry has no plan to establish such a group.
Long, a graduate of the National University of Civil Engineering, does not work in the arm forces. However, he claimed himself as a major general who held several important positions in the Defence Ministry in order to swindle.
Further investigation into the case is underway.-VNA