Charitable shelter involved in beating of 85-year-old woman is an unlicensed facility

On the afternoon of June 10, the Trang Khuyet Charity and Social Protection Fund Company Limited (abbreviated as Trang Khuyet Fund) held a press conference to explain and officially apologize for the case of an old woman being abused at the Trang Khuyet Inn Shelter (on Ha Huy Giap Street, Thanh Loc Ward, District 12) belonging to this company, causing public outrage.

Mr. Do Luong Dai Nam - founder and acting CEO of the Crescent Moon Fund explains the violence that occurred at the Crescent Moon Inn Shelter. Photo: Linh An

As previously reported, on May 25, District 12 Police issued decisions to prosecute the case, prosecute the accused and issue an arrest warrant for Huynh Van Gioi (69 years old, residing locally) for the crime of "Torturing others" in the case of abusing Mrs. VTT (85 years old, from Ben Tre) at Trang Khuyet Inn Shelter.

The case is currently being investigated by District 12 Police.

Mr. Do Luong Dai Nam - founder and acting CEO of Crescent Moon Fund, chaired the press conference and shared "the incident made us very sad".

Afterwards, Mr. Nam spent a lot of time explaining the internal verification process related to Huynh Van Gioi torturing Mrs. VTT. The incident was shared a lot on social networks.

In which, Mr. Nam admitted that he had received information about audio files, images, and clips sent by Mr. P (an elderly person being cared for at Trang Khuyet Inn Shelter) accusing Mr. Gioi of abusing Mr. T, since the end of March 2023. However, the management board, although assigning staff to verify, was slow to process.

Mr. P then posted the clips on social media. Public opinion was outraged, authorities intervened and prosecuted Mr. Gioi.

The clip recorded the image of Mr. Huynh Van Gioi torturing an 85-year-old woman, causing public outrage. Photo: Cut from clip

Mr. Nam also admitted that the Moon Crescent Inn, where the abuse occurred, has not yet had a license from the State management agency for social protection and support. However, he also said that he had sent documents, the authorities directly came to inspect, provided guidance, and the Moon Crescent Fund was subjective and continued to operate.

After the incident, the Crescent Moon Fund received 12 delegations and working sessions from the authorities. Mr. Nam informed that currently, 3 shelters have been temporarily suspended, with only 2 shelters taking care of a total of 47 elderly people and 2 branch offices still operating.

Present at the press conference, the whistleblower, Mr. P, spoke up that Mr. Nam had said 95% wrong things about himself and the handling of the case. Mr. P also affirmed that from today on, he is no longer involved with the Crescent Moon Fund. He is currently cooperating with the police.

At the end of the press conference, Mr. Nam officially apologized to the community for the above mentioned violence.

It is known that throughout the press conference, the representative of the Department of Information and Communications of Ho Chi Minh City continuously reminded that Mr. Do Luong Dai Nam's statements mentioned a third party and provided information that could affect the police's investigation of the case, which were beyond the scope of the content of the press conference.

On the afternoon of May 25, social networks spread many clips showing an old woman being cursed and beaten by a man.

The 1 minute and 17 second clip shows the man repeatedly yelling, “Go in! Go quickly!” at the old woman despite her explanation. He also swung his arms and kicked her repeatedly. The old woman begged, “Please, don’t hit me anymore. I’m in pain.”

Other clips show the man swearing, calling the old woman "you" and "me", and beating her. The incident was witnessed by many other elderly people living in the same room.

District 12 police immediately coordinated with relevant units to verify and investigate. On the evening of May 25, the district police prosecuted the man appearing in the clip, Mr. Huynh Van Gioi, for investigation and handling.

It is known that the Moon Crescent Charity and Social Protection Fund Company Limited (abbreviated as Moon Crescent Fund) was licensed to operate by the Department of Planning and Investment of Ho Chi Minh City in 2020, the current managing unit is the Happy Old Age Nursing Joint Stock Company, Tan Binh District.

The Crescent Moon Fund introduces itself as a non-profit organization, specializing in supporting homeless elderly people, abandoned children, and pregnant mothers in difficult circumstances. The Crescent Moon Fund's funding comes mainly from charity money from the community, a small amount from sales profits of the managing unit and support for the families of those being cared for.

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