Real estate scam collapses, defrauding victims of nearly 40 billion VND.

On the afternoon of May 20th, the Da Nang City People's Court concluded the first-instance trial of a real estate broker who defrauded colleagues and clients using a scheme involving "fallen property" deals. The panel of judges sentenced Nguyen Chi Hoc (38 years old, residing at 23/40 Mai Lao Bang, Ward 13, Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City) to 20 years in prison for fraud and appropriation of property.

According to the indictment, in January 2022, Hoc started working at Tuan 123 Central Vietnam Real Estate Joint Stock Company, with its office at 34 Nguyen Huu Tho Street, Hai Chau District, Da Nang City.

Nguyen Chi Hoc receives a 20-year prison sentence.

Hoc demonstrated his skills in real estate brokerage and valuation, assisting colleagues with consulting, advertising, marketing, and closing deals with clients in Da Nang City to earn extra income. Hoc also exploited his brother, the deputy general director of the company, to defraud his brother's employees (who were also Hoc's colleagues).

In April 2022, Hoc provided false information about his connections with bank officials and real estate leaders in Ho Chi Minh City, claiming he could easily obtain inside information about properties at rock-bottom prices.

These are cases where property owners face difficulties such as bankruptcy, being relentlessly pursued by gangsters, etc., and need to sell urgently, so they sell at a price lower than the bank's valuation, or the property is foreclosed by the bank in Ho Chi Minh City.

Nguyen Chi Hoc at the time of his indictment and detention.

They fabricated a story about a 3% profit in a short period of time, with this profit increasing progressively with the value of the property, to lure victims.

To gain more trust, Hoc even pretended to reveal a trick guaranteeing 100% profit: he would use his connections to influence the deal, and he would receive additional money when making a deposit. This tactic aimed to increase the deposit amount, forcing the seller to pay double the deposit if they failed to sell.

Not only colleagues but also Hoc's clients invested capital. Hoc's tactic was to initially only accept small investments, from 30 to 40 million VND per person, and he always paid the interest on time.

Seeing his credibility, the victims gradually increased their investment. As a result, in less than 5 months (from May to September 2022), Hoc defrauded 8 people of nearly 40 billion VND. Among them, Ms. PTMP (residing in Muong Thanh apartment complex) was defrauded of over 17 billion VND, and Mr. HMC (residing in An Thuong 37, Ngu Hanh Son District, Da Nang City) was swindled out of nearly 11.5 billion VND…

Hoc confessed to using all the stolen money to deposit into online gambling accounts. Initially, Hoc won at gambling, so he had money to pay interest to the victims. Of the nearly 40 billion VND in fraud, the investigating agency determined that Hoc had repaid nearly 29 billion VND to the victims, while still embezzling nearly 10 billion VND.

Hoc claimed that he lost all of this money gambling since October 2022. However, although the investigating agency applied the necessary procedural measures, it did not collect evidence regarding Hoc's gambling activities, nor information about related gambling websites.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/lua-dao-mua-bat-dong-san-sap-ham-chiem-doat-gan-40-ti-dong-185240520111759997.htm