On the afternoon of October 27, after a lengthy deliberation period, the An Giang Provincial People's Court reopened the first-instance criminal trial and sentenced six defendants involved in the smuggling of nearly 3 kg of gold from Cambodia to Vietnam.
Accordingly, defendant Nguyen Thanh Binh (58 years old, owner of a gold shop, residing in Long Xuyen City, An Giang) was sentenced to 9 years in prison; Trang Kien Cuong (47 years old, residing in Chau Doc City, An Giang) to 12 years in prison; Phan Hung (40 years old, residing in Chau Phu District, An Giang) to 10 years in prison; Nguyen Binh Minh (51 years old, residing in An Phu District, An Giang) to 8 years in prison; Le Van Phi (32 years old) and Le Van Hau (21 years old, both residing in Chau Doc City) each received 7 years in prison, all for the crime of smuggling.
Six defendants in a smuggling ring who trafficked nearly 3 kg of gold were sentenced by the An Giang Provincial People's Court to a total of 53 years in prison for smuggling.
According to the indictment, in early November 2021, Trang Kien Cuong met with Nguyen Thanh Binh to offer to sell smuggled gold. Cuong claimed the gold was purchased from Tuot in Cambodia, so Binh agreed to buy it. According to the agreement, Cuong sold Binh 3 kg of gold at a time, at a price of 58,300 - 58,900 USD per kg. Binh arranged for the transaction to take place in a secluded area of Long Xuyen City to avoid detection.
To obtain gold for resale, Cuong persuaded Phan Hung to buy USD from Binh to transport to Cambodia to purchase gold, which they would then resell to Binh for profit. Each person contributed approximately 2 billion VND, enough to buy 1.5 kg of gold. After Hung agreed, Cuong contacted a man named Tuot in Cambodia to negotiate the purchase of the gold.
Defendant Nguyen Thanh Binh, owner of a gold shop in Long Xuyen City, was sentenced to 9 years in prison.
Hung contacted Le Van Phi to hire him to transport USD from Vietnam to Cambodia for Tuot and to bring Tuot's gold from Cambodia back to Chau Doc City to deliver to Cuong and Hung. For each trip, Hung paid Phi 150 USD per kilogram of gold transported. Phi then recruited his younger brother, Le Van Hau, to participate in the illegal transportation of money and gold back and forth between Vietnam and Cambodia for Cuong and Hung's group. For each trip to Cambodia bringing smuggled gold back to Vietnam, Phi gave Hau 500,000 VND. After receiving the gold from Phi and Hau, Cuong transported it from Chau Doc City to Long Xuyen City to sell to Binh.
In total, Cuong and Hung had jointly bought and sold gold eight times. From the sixth transaction onwards, Cuong gave Nguyen Binh Minh 0.5 kg of gold each time. For each successful transaction, Cuong's group earned a profit of 450 USD per 3 kg of gold.
During their eighth gold smuggling operation on January 10, 2022, while Cuong and Binh were exchanging 3 kg of smuggled gold in Long Xuyen City, they were apprehended by the An Giang Provincial Police. The seized items, after valuation, included 3 gold bars weighing nearly 3 kg (almost 80 taels), with a total value of over 4.1 billion VND, 21,000 USD, and other related evidence. On January 18, 2022, Binh, Cuong, Minh, Hung, Hau, and Phi were charged and are under investigation.
Defendant Trang Kien Cuong (right) testifies at the trial.
During the trial held on October 23rd and 24th, Nguyen Thanh Binh initially denied buying and selling smuggled gold with Trang Kien Cuong's group. However, faced with compelling evidence collected by the investigating agency and the testimony of other defendants in court, Binh admitted to purchasing smuggled gold from Cuong's group.
In addition to the prison sentences for smuggling mentioned above, the An Giang Provincial People's Court also imposed supplementary fines of 100 million VND each on Binh, Cuong, and Hung; and a fine of 50 million VND on Minh. Furthermore, nearly 3 kg of gold, 21,000 USD in seized evidence, and other related items were confiscated and forfeited to the state budget.
Quick overview at 8 PM: News summary for October 27th
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