Nguyen Thanh Hung, a 29-year-old individual and CEO of Binh Duong CityLand Real Estate Trading JSC, has been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the crime of "fraudulent appropriation of property."
On Wednesday, a court in Binh Duong announced that four additional individuals, who hold positions as staff members and shareholders within the company, have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from 12 to 20 years.
From 2018 to 2019, the defendants were found to have purchased numerous agricultural land plots in Bau Bang and Phu Giao districts. Subsequently, they sought permission to develop residential projects based on these acquired lands, as stated in the verdict.
Despite the lack of approved applications, Hung and the defendants proceeded to establish seven property projects under the names Green City, Green City 2, Green City 3, Happy Home, Happy Home 2, Phuc Long City, and Phu Thinh.
Hung subsequently recruited and employed a significant number of individuals to establish sales teams tasked with the objective of acquiring potential customers.
The employees took it upon themselves to disseminate project details, promote them to customers, and provide assurance that all houses were completely legitimate and eligible for ownership transfer.
Buyers were furnished with an elaborate project outline and assured that they would receive the official ownership certificate within a timeframe of six months to one year.
In order to convey the notion that all projects were actively under construction, the group decided to rent construction equipment and commence work on the land plot when scheduling meetings with buyers.
In a span of two years, Hung and his associates managed to deceive 384 individuals by selling imaginary properties, amassing a total amount of VND162 billion (equivalent to US$6.6 million).
To date, the victims have only received a reimbursement of VND18 billion.
