72-year-old woman alleges real estate company staged scam in Ho Chi Minh City
Translated from Vietnamese, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.
At a glance
- A 72-year-old woman in Ho Chi Minh City claims she was defrauded of over 1.13 billion Vietnamese dong by a real estate company.
- The woman alleges the company, P.L.A Real Estate Investment Joint Stock Company, staged a scenario to trick her into depositing money.
- Authorities are investigating the case, and other individuals have also reportedly been victims of similar scams by the same company.
A 72-year-old woman in Ho Chi Minh City has accused a real estate company of orchestrating a sophisticated scam that allegedly cost her over 1.13 billion Vietnamese dong (approximately $45,000 USD). The woman, Luong Thi Duc, claims that P.L.A Real Estate Investment Joint Stock Company lured her into a fraudulent scheme while she was attempting to sell land.
Từ nhu cầu bán đất, người dân đã bị cuốn vào kịch bản dàn cảnh lừa đảo tinh vi của Công ty địa ốc P.L.A, dẫn đến nguy cơ mất trắng hàng tỉ đồng.
According to her complaint filed with the Tan Binh District police, the incident began in September 2023. Duc and a friend, who co-owned a plot of land in Binh Phuoc province, decided to sell it. On September 23, 2023, individuals claiming to be employees of a real estate firm met them. Instead of traveling to Binh Phuoc, Duc was taken to a project site in Suoi Nghe commune, Ba Ria-Vung Tau province.
There, the company employees allegedly staged a scenario, claiming the property was selling out quickly and that a client from Hanoi wanted to buy multiple adjacent plots. They persuaded Duc to deposit money to reserve the plots for this supposed client, promising her a commission in gold. Believing their story, Duc borrowed money and deposited a total of 1.13 billion dong into an account belonging to L.D.T, the general director of P.L.A Real Estate.
Tuy nhiên, thay vì đến Bình Phước, xe lại đưa bà Đức đến một dự án ở xã Suối Nghệ, huyện Châu Đức, tỉnh Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu cũ (nay là TP.HCM).
After realizing she had been deceived, Duc reported the incident to the police. The company subsequently issued a contract termination agreement, promising to return 791 million dong while penalizing Duc 339 million dong for alleged "breach of contract." However, the company has only returned a portion of the promised amount. Duc stated that the company last promised to repay the remaining 395.5 million dong by March 5, 2024, but she has yet to receive it. Furthermore, P.L.A Real Estate appears to have ceased operations and moved, leaving Duc unable to contact the individuals involved.
Tại đây, các nhân viên liên tục dàn cảnh "cháy hàng", có khách từ Hà Nội muốn mua nhiều nền đất liền kề nhưng không kịp về đặt cọc.
Investigations by the police indicate that Duc is not the only victim. Other individuals have reportedly been defrauded by the same company, including one woman who lost 2.4 billion dong after being led to buy land in Ho Chi Minh City, and another who transferred over 2 billion dong for a plot of land in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province. The police are currently verifying these accusations.
Tin lời, bà Đức đã sập bẫy và phải chạy vạy vay mượn nộp tổng cộng 1,13 tỉ đồng cho công ty vào tài khoản của ông L.Đ.T (Tổng giám đốc Công ty cổ phần đầu tư địa ốc P.L.A).
Originally published by Thanh Niên in Vietnamese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.