The Long An Province People’s Court on Thursday wrapped up the trial of Nguyen Thi Cam Hong, 54, which drew widespread attention due to the large number of victims.
It found her guilty of “fraudulent appropriation of assets.”
Hong and her younger sister and accomplice Nguyen Thi Kim Phuong, 49, were absent from court for “health reasons.”
Hong was given the maximum penalty for demonstrating a disregard for the law, misappropriating others’ properties and causing grave consequences, the judges said.
Phuong and Hong’s husband, Nguyen Phu Thuan, 49, got 20 years each for abetting Hong.
The HCMC-based Hong established Thien Phuc Real Estate Investment Jsc in 2015 with her husband as the legal representative.
From 2017 she focused on developing residential projects, hiring personnel to draft investment proposals and detailed plans.
She invented fictitious details about project locations, areas, and plot numbers to sign contracts with real estate agencies to lure customers.
The contracts were structured as agreements in principle for transfer of land-use rights.
Hong and her accomplices fabricated details about three projects in Long An Province.
While the projects received preliminary investment approval from local authorities, Hong did not acquire further licenses to develop them.
But she divided the lands into smaller plots and sold them.
She even invented false claims about a “second phase” development to further pull the wool over people’s eyes.
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Nguyen Thi Cam Hong seen at the Long An Provincial People’s Court in July 2025. Photo by VnExpress/Hoang Nam |
In one instance, a single hectare of land without development licenses was used to sign contracts with seven brokerage firms, generating VND126 billion for Hong.
Between 2017 and 2020 she signed contracts with 967 victims to sell land.
She controlled the funds and used her husband and another accomplice, Truong Quoc Thai, to carry out cash transactions.
Thai got seven years for abetting her.
After paying money but receiving no plots, many complained to authorities, which prompted a criminal investigation by the Long An police starting in late 2020.
Hong and her husband fled but were arrested two years later in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong.
The couple turned in the misappropriated money to get leniency from law enforcement.
The judges said the investigation also uncovered signs of money laundering by Hong and other individuals, and negligence by officials who approved the projects, potentially causing serious consequences.
They ordered separate investigations into the two issues.
