Sentencing of defendants in the largest ever fake document ring

The Trial Panel sentenced: Nguyen Trong Duong (born in 1989, residing in Dong Nai) to 5 years in prison; Tran Duc Toan (born in1990, residing in Binh Thanh district) 5 years in prison; Nguyen Hung Dung (born in1986, residing in Vinh Long) 6 years and 6 months in prison; Nguyen Thanh Phong (born in1976, residing in Vinh Long) 6 years and 6 months in prison for the crime of "Forgery of seals and documents of agencies and organizations".

The People's Court ordered the four defendants to pay an additional fine of 50 million VND.

The defendants at trial

Along with his accomplices in the above crime, the remaining 14 defendants were sentenced to between 3 years of suspended sentences and 4 years of imprisonment. The court also ordered the defendants to return the illegally obtained money.

According to the case, at around 4:00 p.m. on August 25, 2020, the Criminal Police Department (Ministry of Public Security) discovered Vo Thanh Son (33 years old, residing in Binh Chanh District, Ho Chi Minh City) red-handed handing over 13 fake documents of various types including: driver's license (GPLX), Citizen Identification Card (CCCD) and car registration to a motorbike taxi driver to sell.

Searching Son's residence, police discovered documents related to 4 groups of fake documents and papers of agencies and organizations.

The first group was led by defendant Nguyen Trong Duong. Accordingly, Duong's group had been forging documents since 2019. Duong hired a subject named Hung (unknown background) to help him forge various types of documents.

To facilitate the counterfeiting, Duong purchased various tools and equipment such as color printers, blank printers, computers, photocopiers, laminators, voltage stabilizers, etc.

At the same time, the defendant bought fake ID cards, driver's licenses, fake stamps (stamps attached to driver's licenses) from defendant Dinh Thi Ngoc Oanh, and other fake stamps that Duong bought through social networks from unknown subjects. Later, when Hung quit his job, Duong hired Nguyen Van Dat to help him forge various documents.

The investigation agency determined that Duong's group forged 3,200 fake documents of various types, illegally profiting 500 million VND.

Also using this trick, the second group led by defendant Tran Duc Toan forged about 1,000 documents, illegally profiting 200 million VND.

The third group was led by Nguyen Hung Dung. Dung rented an apartment in Tan Tao A ward (Binh Tan district) and hired people to produce various types of documents. Dung hired workers with salaries ranging from 6 to 20 million VND/month. Dung does not remember the number of fake documents that Dung's group made and sold.

The fourth group was led by Nguyen Thanh Phong (47 years old, from Vinh Long). Phong bought machinery and equipment from Dung's group for production. Phong's group forged more than 2,000 documents of various types. After deducting expenses, Phong illegally profited 1 billion VND.

Regarding those who bought fake documents, during the investigation, 24 people handed them over to local police. Because the statute of limitations for administrative penalties for using fake documents has expired, the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department sent a document to the residence of these 24 people requesting local education management.

According to VTC News