On September 11-12, the People's Court of Kinh Mon town (Hai Duong) held a first-instance trial of Truong Thi Huong (born in 1986, in Hien Thanh ward, Kinh Mon) for fraud and property appropriation. Huong was sentenced to more than 7 years in prison.
According to the indictment, on February 19, 2022, at her residence in Hien Thanh ward, Huong took advantage of the superstition of Mr. PST and his wife in Hiep An ward (Kinh Mon) to engage in superstitious activities, fortune telling and appropriation of money.
Huong told Mr. T's fortune and gave him false information that if he did not perform the ritual to dispel bad luck, Mr. T's father would have trouble and all the money he earned would be lost. Mr. T and his wife believed what Huong said and did, so they transferred a total of 62.5 million VND to Huong.
On December 6, 2022, Huong continued to take advantage of the superstition of Mr. TTX's wife and husband in Du Hang ward, Le Chan district (Hai Phong). Huong told fortunes for Mr. X. and gave false information to make him and his wife believe that Mr. X.'s house was cursed, haunted by ghosts, and that the family had bad luck... To dispel the bad luck, Huong had to be given 180 million VND so that Huong could perform a ritual to dispel the bad luck and Mr. X.'s family would be able to sell the house in December 2022. Mr. X. and his wife believed it was true, so they gave Huong 180 million VND. After the ceremony, Mr. X. and his wife waited until the end of December 2022 but still could not sell the house, and work was not going well. On February 12, 2023, Mr. X. filed a complaint against Huong's actions with the Kinh Mon Town Police.
The total amount of money Huong appropriated from the victims was 242.5 million VND. The jury sentenced defendant Truong Thi Huong to 7 years and 3 months in prison for fraud and property appropriation.
Along with the complaint of Mr. T. and Mr. X., the investigation agency also received 3 complaints from some other people in Thai Thinh, Hien Thanh, An Luu wards (all in Kinh Mon town), but the people could not provide documents or evidence to prove it. Therefore, the investigation agency did not have enough grounds to prosecute the defendant.
Previously, on August 21, at the first instance trial, the Trial Panel decided to return the case file to the Kinh Mon Town People's Procuracy for further investigation. The Kinh Mon Town People's Procuracy based on Document No. 234A/CQDT-DTTH dated April 3, 2024 of the Investigation Police Agency (Kinh Mon Town Police) did not accept the further investigation.