Interpreter sells friend to Cambodia for $300

On the afternoon of December 4, the People's Court of Da Nang City concluded the first-instance trial of the female interpreter who sold her friend and her family and acquaintances to Cambodia. The panel sentenced defendant Ly Phuong Thao (37 years old, residing in District 10, Ho Chi Minh City) to 16 years in prison for human trafficking.

According to the indictment, Thao was a Chinese interpreter, working for Chinese companies in the Vietnam-Cambodia border area.

Thao was ordered by these companies to find Vietnamese people to work in Cambodia, with a "referral" commission of 300 - 500 USD/person. According to the agreement, the companies would take care of all the costs of bringing people from Vietnam to Cambodia, Thao only needed to find people.

Thao received 16 years in prison for human trafficking

On December 3, 2020, Thao's friend TPK needed a job, so Thao tricked K. into going to work at a Chinese company in Sihanoukville province (Cambodia), promising jobs such as data entry and finding and taking care of customers, with a salary of 850 - 1,200 USD/month.

Thao promised that K. would not have his salary withheld, would have a salary increase after 3 months, would be allowed to go home for Tet, and the company would cover immigration costs. If he quit, he would only have to pay compensation of 300 USD/person.

Believing Thao, K. persuaded and lured a total of 5 family members and friends from Da Nang City to Ho Chi Minh City. On December 8, 2020, Thao rented a car to take K.'s group to illegally exit the country to Cambodia. After selling the 5 people to a company, Thao continued to return to Vietnam.

Hearing that K.'s group had successfully crossed into Cambodia, NTL (K.'s relative) trusted Thao even more, so he invited a total of 4 people to cross the border with Thao to Cambodia to work. On December 20, 2020, Thao sold these 4 people to Cambodia. With a total of 9 people sold, Thao earned a profit of 2,700 USD, equivalent to 63 million VND.

In Cambodia, nine people had their ID cards confiscated and were forced to sign documents in Cambodian or Chinese that they did not understand.

The job is not to enter data and take care of customers online, but to entice gamblers to deposit money to gamble and bet online.

Salary is only 500 - 600 USD/month, equal to 50% of the promised salary, but overtime must be 11 - 12 hours/day, sometimes 20 hours a day, if not working enough time in a month, fined 1,000 - 2,000 USD or sold to another company.

Workers are still confined, with security guards on duty 24/7. After 6-8 months, they can only go home to visit, but their wages are withheld.

K. and L.'s group of 9 people escaped, but only 2 were rescued by the authorities, the rest were captured and beaten by the company.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/phien-dich-vien-ban-ca-gia-dinh-ban-qua-campuchia-voi-gia-300-usd-nguoi-185231204212021361.htm