Two lawyers sentenced to 21 years in prison for fraud of more than 3 billion VND

On the morning of September 18, the Hanoi People's Court sentenced defendant Nguyen Thien Hiep (Director of Viet Tam Law Firm) to 13 years in prison and Nguyen Quang Trung (the company's lawyer) to 8 years in prison for the crime of "Fraudulent appropriation of property".

At the trial, defendant Hiep claimed that he had correctly and fully performed the content and terms of the contract. Only when he was arrested did he realize that his actions were unethical and violated the law.

Nguyen Quang Trung pleaded innocent and denied being an accomplice with Mr. Hiep. The defendant admitted that he only drafted the documents and contract terms under Mr. Hiep's direction. These contracts basically had templates available in the computer system of Viet Tam Law Company Limited.

Besides, Trung also stated that he did not benefit from this. When Director Hiep consulted and discussed with the customer, Trung was present but did not pay attention to listen.

Case records show that in 2020, 8 people from Golden Time Company were arrested, including the Chairman of this Company, Nguyen Khac Doi, accused of illegal multi-level marketing.

After the incident, Mr. Doi’s secretary, Ms. Hoang Le Nhat, went to Viet Tam Law Firm to meet Nguyen Thien Hiep for advice. At that time, defendant Hiep said that Doi’s group could be prosecuted for illegal multi-level marketing and fraud. If they wanted to be prosecuted only for multi-level marketing, they would need to spend 5 billion VND.

The indictment determined that on August 16, 2020, some members of Golden Time Company brought 1 billion VND to Viet Tam Law Firm to sign a legal service contract.

Defendant Hiep directed Nguyen Quang Trung to draft this contract, worth 200 million. As for the 5 billion VND "to escape the sentence", the parties signed an appendix with each other "promising a reward" and had to pay the full amount within 7 days from the date of signing the contract, receiving 800 million VND in advance immediately upon signing the "to escape the sentence" contract.

The prosecution agency alleges that, in order to create trust, Mr. Hiep lied to his client that he had visited Mr. Doi in detention and found him in good health. The lawyer also provided false information that he had "worked with the investigation agency but did not specify the content...".

Realizing there were signs of fraud, the Executive Board of Golden Time Company agreed to cancel the contract and demand a refund, but defendant Trung said that Ms. Nhat's company still had to pay the remaining 2 billion VND, out of the 5 billion VND stated in the contract appendix.

On August 23, 2020, Ms. Nhat and other members of Golden Time Company met Trung and Hiep, but they did not agree to cancel the contract and return the money.

Two weeks after the above meeting, defendant Hiep sent three notices, requesting Ms. Nhat to pay the remaining 2 billion VND. Meanwhile, Ms. Nhat also called to request payment but received no response.

Ms. Nhat therefore sent a complaint to the Hanoi Police Investigation Agency.

In May 2022, the Investigation Agency arrested Hiep, and in April 2023, arrested Nguyen Quang Trung. Hanoi City Police determined that from August 14 to August 21, 2020, lawyer Hiep did not participate with the investigation agency in working with Mr. Doi.

The jury found that in the case, the defendant Trung participated in consulting, drafting contracts and as a lawyer, so Trung "must have known" that his superior had violated the law. Because Trung did not benefit, in addition to the sentence already imposed, the court ordered Mr. Hiep to return 3.2 billion VND to the victim, Trung refused to be jointly liable for compensation.