Lessons from a 70-year-old woman's cry for help

(NLDO) - Despite being repeatedly condemned by public opinion and the press, real estate scams continue to occur, causing many people to fall into misery.

The case of Ms. Nguyen Thi Thinh Vuong (70 years old, residing in Phu Nhuan district, Ho Chi Minh City) is a clear demonstration of the sophistication and organization of real estate fraud rings, taking advantage of people's trust and lack of legal knowledge.

In a petition sent to Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper, Ms. Vuong shared that until now she still cannot understand why she was easily lured to a commune in Dong Nai province, and then "stuck" with a piece of land in a "ghost project". It all started with a seemingly harmless phone call.

Ms. Vuong sent a petition for help to the Lao Dong Newspaper.

Specifically, at the end of March, she received a call from a person claiming to be an employee of the Mobifone network, introducing himself as Long, phone number 0903143628. This person informed her that she would receive a gift as a thank you for being a loyal customer, and invited her to come to 15A Ho Van Hue, Phu Nhuan District to receive it.

There, she was greeted by three people named Long, Trang and Hong. After chatting, they quickly took her to the car, saying that they would take her to visit a potential residential area near An Phu roundabout, heading towards Long Thanh (Dong Nai). However, when she arrived, she learned that the actual destination was Hung Loc commune, Thong Nhat district, Dong Nai province.

On the way, the group asked her to put down a deposit to reserve a plot of land, saying that "the land fund was running out due to many people's interest." When she said she did not have enough money, they took 300,000 VND from her pocket.

Upon arrival, they presented a diagram called "Hung Loc Residential Area", which was promoted by Phu Thanh Cong Company staff as a project with full legal documents and high profit potential. They also showed her the scene of many people "jostling" to buy land in the project to create a sense of urgency, in order to pressure her to make a quick decision.

Under such pressure and heated atmosphere, Ms. Vuong agreed to buy the land lot coded HL5-10 for VND2.73 billion. The group then took her home to collect the deposit of VND393 million. However, after signing the contract in principle, she was explained that this was only a deposit, she had to pay 100% of the value to sign the official transfer contract and be granted a land use rights certificate. When she expressed her financial inability, they reassured her that if she changed her mind after 3 to 6 months, she could withdraw the money or move to another better plot of land.

After that, Ms. Vuong and her relatives returned to the place that was introduced as a residential area to check the reality but discovered that it was just an empty lot, without infrastructure, no signboard, no sign of construction or project implementation. Notably, according to Decision No. 86 of the Dong Nai Provincial People's Committee, the land price in this area is only about 150,000 VND/m², while she bought it at a price of more than 31 million VND/m², which is hundreds of times higher.

Verification document sent by Dong Nai Department of Construction to Ms. Vuong

Therefore, Ms. Vuong accused this group of people of staging a sophisticated fraud scheme: from impersonating network employees, organizing tours for customers, using principle contracts to receive money, and then making false promises. In fact, the purpose was to appropriate deposits by fraudulent means.

"The 393 million VND I gave them was all my life savings, plus the money I borrowed from my relatives, hoping to invest it for profit and have money to treat my nephew who had a malignant brain tumor. But I was deceived. My spirit was broken, my family was in dire straits, and my nephew was in critical condition, but the only money we could rely on was being illegally held by Phu Thanh Cong Company," Ms. Vuong painfully recounted.

Ms. Vuong has authorized A+ Law Firm and Associates to monitor the case. Lawyer Nguyen Duy Anh said he checked the planning information at the Dong Nai Province Department of Construction and was confirmed that there is absolutely no project named "Hung Loc Residential Area" licensed in Hung Loc Commune, Thong Nhat District.

In fact, this land is just agricultural land that was arbitrarily divided by an individual, then the concept was swapped by a company to sell it under the name of "project land" at an inflated price. According to Lawyer Anh, this behavior has signs of constituting the crime of "deceiving customers".

In addition, according to the response document of the Department of Construction of Dong Nai province, through the transfer request from the Department of Construction of Ho Chi Minh City, it also confirmed that there is no real estate project named "Hung Loc Residential Area" in the area as advertised by Phu Thanh Cong Investment Group Joint Stock Company. Because this company is registered to do business in Ho Chi Minh City, Ms. Vuong was instructed to continue working with the authorities there.

Currently, Ms. Vuong has sent a petition for help and a denunciation to the authorities in Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai province and the Economic Police Department - Ho Chi Minh City Police to request investigation and handling according to the law.

According to lawyer Duy Anh, after Ms. Vuong repeatedly complained and denounced, Phu Thanh Cong Investment Joint Stock Company continued to send documents asking her to pay more money to execute the contract. He said that this is a common tactic of "ghost" real estate companies, which is to force customers to continue paying by threatening to lose their deposits if they do not follow the schedule.

Because the real value of the property is not commensurate with the amount of money collected, many people have to accept losing their deposit instead of pursuing the lawsuit. Because when the matter is brought to court as a civil dispute, the possibility of criminal prosecution will be significantly reduced. "That is why companies doing business like this still have a place to live, thanks to the gullibility of the people and the lack of determination of the management agencies" - lawyer Duy Anh commented.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/bai-hoc-tu-la-don-cau-cuu-cua-nguoi-phu-nu-70-tuoi-196250611094110135.htm