Editor-in-Chief of Environment and Urban Magazine uses money from contracts to invest in stocks

On December 18, the Ministry of Public Security provided detailed information about the case of taking advantage of press activities to violate the law.

Accordingly, the investigation agency determined that during the operation, under the direction and management of Mr. Dong Xuan Thu - Editor-in-Chief of the Vietnam Environment and Urban electronic magazine, a number of journalists, reporters, and collaborators of this magazine took advantage of the name of journalistic activities.

These people regularly post many articles reflecting violations in the fields of construction, urban order, environment... in many provinces and cities on the Vietnam Environment and Urban electronic magazine to lower its reputation and put pressure.

When the victims contacted them, asking them to remove the article, hide it, or stop reporting, the reporters and collaborators asked for money in the form of support for the Golden Broom program launched by the Vietnam Environment and Urban electronic magazine.

After collecting the money, Mr. Thu and the defendants appropriated and used a portion of it to organize the program, and divided the rest for personal use.

Realizing that the behavior of the group of reporters showed signs of taking advantage of press activities to commit acts of extortion on a large scale, with organized and professional activities and sophisticated tricks, the Director of Thai Binh Provincial Police Department issued a decision to establish a special project assigned to the Criminal Police Department of Thai Binh Provincial Police to preside over and coordinate with professional units and professional departments of the Ministry of Public Security to fight against this group of subjects.

The investigation determined that this was a very complicated case, with sophisticated and organized methods and tricks of operation; the subjects were all people who were knowledgeable about the law, operating "disguised" under the name of a charity press agency; there were many victims (especially businesses); the scope of operation was wide, involving many provinces and cities across the country.

The task force established many working groups to go to provinces and cities to verify the subjects who are important links in the group.

On October 1, 2024, the Investigation Police Agency of Thai Binh Provincial Police issued a decision to prosecute and detain Mr. Dong Xuan Thu and 7 other subjects for the crime of "Extortion of property".

The investigation showed that from 2018 to 2024, nearly 3,200 contracts were signed between organizations and individuals with the Vietnam Environment and Urban electronic magazine with a total value of more than 80 billion VND.

Initial cash flow analysis results show that, after collecting money from the above contracts or agreements, in addition to spending on the activities of the Golden Broom program, dividing the percentage 50-50 with reporters, Mr. Dong Xuan Thu also showed signs of using it for investing in stocks, real estate, personal use...

The investigation agency continues to exploit electronic data, synthesize analysis, compare data to clarify the use of money, fight with the accused, collect documents and evidence to serve the extended investigation.