18-month prison sentence for impersonating "journalist" to blackmail business

(NLDO) - Mai Xuan Huu in Quang Binh is the owner of the Youtube channel "ATGT-QB", impersonating himself as a "journalist" and repeatedly extorting money from businesses.

Trial of Mai Xuan Huu

On December 19, the People's Court of Quang Binh province opened a trial of defendant Mai Xuan Huu (born in 1984, residing in Nhan Trach commune, Bo Trach district) for the crime of "Extortion of property."

According to the indictment, Mai Xuan Huu is the owner of the Youtube channel "ATGT-QB," specializing in traffic safety in Quang Binh. During the period from December 2023 to February 2024, Huu discovered a number of businesses in Quang Trach district transporting materials with signs of being oversized and overloaded when participating in traffic. Huu took photos and recorded these vehicles.

The defendant then sent the photos via Zalo and text messages to the businesses, threatening to post them on YouTube or provide them to the authorities. In order to avoid the disclosure of the photos reflecting the violations, the businesses were forced to pay Huu money.

Mai Xuan Huu at the time of prosecution and temporary detention

During the implementation process, Mai Xuan Huu repeatedly threatened the enterprise to appropriate more than 100 million VND, of which 30 million VND was not successfully appropriated.

In addition, Mai Xuan Huu claimed to be the "Deputy Director of the Institute of Training and Cultural Development Science" under the Vietnam Association for Human Resources and Talent Development Science, but there was no official evidence. And many times, Huu impersonated himself as a "journalist" to harass and extort money from businesses.

In court, defendant Mai Xuan Huu confessed his crime. The jury sentenced him to 18 months in prison.

It is known that Mai Xuan Huu also had a previous conviction for theft in 2004 and was sentenced to 12 months in prison with a suspended sentence by the Dong Hoi City People's Court.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/quang-binh-phat-18-thang-tu-ke-mao-danh-nha-bao-tong-tien-doanh-nghiep-196241219183912561.htm