Woman defrauds business with lies about connections to gov't officials

Bui Thi Luong, 48, a resident in Da Nang City, is under investigation for fraud and appropriation of property.

In early 2021, through an acquaintance, Luong met the entrepreneurial couple with a coal business in Quang Ninh, a northern province dubbed "the coal kingdom of Vietnam."

She boasted of her close relationships with many officials, and promised to help the couple expand their business and other matters for a fee of VND95 billion.

The couple agreed.

They even gave two acquaintances of Luong VND460 million and VND800 million each in return for their supposed "services" as "associates" of Luong's.

After several months, seeing that Luong had done nothing (and could do nothing) to help their business grow, the couple asked for their money back.

By mid-2022, Luong had only returned VND9.3 billion to the couple and still owed them more than VND86 billion. Her two acquaintances have not returned the money.

The couple reported Luong to the Cau Giay District Police Department in Hanoi and Luong has now admitted to the charges.