A journalist was detained for investigation into the act of 'extortion of property'

Previously, at 9:15 a.m. on April 4, Mr. Nguyen Manh Thang (49 years old, Deputy Head of Department at Dien Bien Phu Newspaper) was caught red-handed by Dien Bien Phu City Police for "extortion" at a coffee shop in Thanh Binh Ward (Dien Bien Phu City). The victims were 2 businesses in Dien Bien province.

Mr. Nguyen Manh Thang (middle) at the time he was caught red-handed by the police. Photo: Kien Tran

According to the police records, during his journalistic work, taking advantage of discovering violations of two businesses, Mr. Thang threatened and demanded that the businesses pay money to not publish the violations in the press.

Fearing that it would affect their work, the two companies agreed to give Mr. Thang money to ignore their violations. After that, each company prepared 50 million VND in an envelope and gave it to Mr. Thang at the coffee shop, but was discovered and caught red-handed by the authorities.

Police seized 5 envelopes from businesses in Mr. Thang’s wallet with a total amount of 118.5 million VND. During an emergency search of Mr. Thang’s residence, workplace and car, the police also seized many objects and documents related to the crime.

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/tam-giu-mot-nha-bao-de-dieu-tra-ve-hanh-vi-cuong-doat-tai-san-post242556.html