The crime process of a wanted fraudster in Ha Giang and the pursuit journey amid storm Yagi by the Quang Tri Provincial Police force.
Past debt due to gambling
Like The Messenger posted, at 9:00 a.m. on September 19, the Office of the Investigation Police Agency of Quang Tri Province coordinated with the Office of the Investigation Police Agency of Ha Giang Province to successfully arrest a particularly dangerous wanted subject hiding at an accommodation facility in Ha Giang Province.
The subject’s identity is Le Van Huy (born in 1989, residing in Ba Thung village, Cam Tuyen commune, Cam Lo district, Quang Tri province).
Previously, Le Van Huy was wanted by the Investigation Police Agency of Quang Tri Province under Decision No. 883/QDTN-VPCQCSĐT dated July 23, 2024. This is an especially dangerous wanted subject of the project coded 724H.
According to records provided by Quang Tri Provincial Police, during his time living and working in Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong and some southern provinces, Le Van Huy had quite complicated social relationships.
In early June 2022, due to business losses and many debts that he could not pay, Huy returned to his hometown in Cam Tuyen commune and was constantly sought out by creditors.
Around the beginning of July 2022, Ms. Vo Thi M. (born in 1998, residing in Tan Hiep village, Cam Tuyen commune), Huy’s aunt’s daughter, working in Ho Chi Minh City, asked Huy to introduce her to buy land in Cam Lo town.
Seeing this as an opportunity to earn money to pay off debt and serve his passion for online gambling, Huy lied to Ms. M. that he needed to sell a plot of land in Thuong Vien neighborhood, Cam Lo town, Cam Lo district for 600,000,000 VND.
Believing Huy, Ms. M. transferred the deposit and land purchase money many times and asked Huy to help her with related procedures.
On September 20, 2022, Ms. M. was asked by Huy to come to her house to give her the remaining amount of money to buy the land, about 200,000,000 VND; then she and Huy went to the headquarters of the Land Registration Office, Cam Lo district branch.
Here, Huy told Ms. M. to wait outside the gate, then went into the headquarters alone, then went out and gave Ms. M. a “Certificate of land use rights, house ownership rights and other assets attached to land” No. B1340615 in the name of Vo Thi M., on the paper specifically stated the property in Ms. M.’s name is: Plot No. 539, map sheet No. 17, address: Alley 42, Thuong Vien quarter, Cam Lo town, Cam Lo district, Quang Tri province; area 180m².
On June 30, 2023, Ms. M. found out that there was no land plot as stated in the “Certificate of land use rights, house ownership rights and other assets attached to land” that Huy gave her.
Suspecting that Huy had made a fake “red book” to appropriate more than 600,000,000 VND, Ms. M. filed a complaint against Le Van Huy for fraudulent appropriation of property to the Quang Tri Police Investigation Agency and handed over the “Certificate of land use rights, house ownership rights and other assets attached to land” mentioned above.
Receiving Ms. M’s complaint, the Investigation Police Agency temporarily detained the documents and requested the Criminal Techniques Department of the Provincial Police for examination. The conclusion determined: “Certificate of land use rights, house ownership rights and other assets attached to land” No.: B1340615 in the name of Vo Thi M., born in 1998, permanent address: Tan Hiep village, Cam Tuyen commune, Cam Lo district, province. Quang Triby the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of the province Quang Tri issued on September 9, 2022, the number entering the GCN issuance number: CS00790 (symbol A) is a fake Certificate”.
Continuing to verify and collect evidence, the authorities determined that there were signs of crime, so they initiated a criminal case of fraud to appropriate property, forging seals and documents of agencies and organizations; using fake seals or documents of agencies and organizations for investigation.
However, when summoned to work, Le Van Huy was not present in the locality and did not cooperate with the summons. The Provincial Police Department had to issue a decision to search for and escort Huy back to work.
During the process of working with the police, Le Van Huy did not admit to defrauding Ms. M. and claimed that he was also taken advantage of by others and did not know that the “red book” given to Ms. M. was fake.
The case had many complicated details, but with determination to fight crime and with professional acumen, the investigators persistently collected enough important documents and evidence, gradually exposing Le Van Huy’s tricks and false statements and proving his criminal behavior.
On June 21, the Investigation Police Agency of Quang Tri Province issued a decision to prosecute Le Van Huy for the crime of fraud and appropriation of property as prescribed in Clause 4, Article 174 of the Penal Code and the crime of Forging seals and documents of agencies and organizations; the crime of Using fake seals or documents of agencies and organizations as prescribed in Clause 3, Article 341 of the Penal Code. When summoned by the police to work, Le Van Huy tried to deal with the situation and fled the area.
The pursuit journey in the midst of storm YAGI
On July 23, the Provincial Police Department issued a wanted notice for Le Van Huy and established a special project coded 724H to organize a nationwide hunt for the subject.
Decision to arrest Le Van Huy (Photo: Provided by Quang Tri Provincial Police)
By effectively applying professional measures, in mid-September 2024, the task force obtained information that Le Van Huy was hiding in Lao Cai province and was working as a tourist guide to the Northwestern provinces.
In order to prevent the subject from taking advantage of the situation to continue committing crimes and fleeing abroad, the task force reported to the provincial police leadership about the plan to capture the subject.
On September 18, the task force of the special task force was assigned to Lao Cai province. However, at this time, storm No. 3 (Yagi) made landfall and caused extremely serious consequences for the northern provinces, including Lao Cai province, so the coordination, verification, and movement of the task force was extremely difficult.
When the working group coordinated with Sa Pa City Police to verify the subject’s residence, they learned that Le Van Huy was moving to Ha Giang province.
Following the trail that night, due to landslides on some sections of the road, the task force had to move back to Yen Bai, through Tuyen Quang and then to Ha Giang, a distance of more than 400km. By noon on September 19, the task force coordinated with the Ha Giang Provincial Police to discover and successfully arrest Le Van Huy while he was hiding at an accommodation facility near the Ha Giang Provincial bus station.
Currently, the police force has transferred the subject to the Investigation Police Agency of Quang Tri Province to continue applying procedural measures according to regulations.