On April 10, the Hanoi People’s Court handed down the sentence to Duong Thi Thu Phong (born 1945, residing in Cau Giay District), convicting her of “fraudulent appropriation of assets.”

Back in 2010, Nguyen Hong H. (born 1974, from Thach That District) and her husband mortgaged a 100.8-square-meter plot of land and the attached property to secure a 1 billion VND loan from a bank. They managed to repay only 170 million VND before defaulting.

On June 30, 2022, the Thach That District People’s Court issued a decision recognizing the settlement agreement between the involved parties. Later, on November 17, 2022, the Thach That District Civil Judgment Enforcement Department issued a ruling to enforce the judgment regarding the mortgaged property.

Through a mutual acquaintance, the couple was introduced to Duong Thi Thu Phong, who claimed she could help them recover their property within one week - on the condition that they give her 1.2 billion VND and grant her power of attorney through a notarized document.

Trusting Phong, the couple visited a notary office in Ha Dong and completed the power of attorney process. On September 29, 2023, they transferred more than 1.1 billion VND to Phong’s bank account.

However, Phong failed to follow through with any of the promised actions and spent all of the money for personal purposes.

On March 11, 2024, the couple reported the fraud to police and demanded that Phong repay the full amount.

In her testimony, Phong admitted to spending 410 million VND on a fat-reduction treatment at a beauty clinic and another 20 million VND on an iPhone 13 Pro Max. The remainder was either loaned out or spent on her personal needs.

T. Nhung