Guilty robber returns stolen cash, phones to victim in southern Vietnam

Provincial police said Friday that the robber also wrote a letter of apology to the victim.

Guards of the An Phu Ward’s People’s Committee found the money and the letter inside a bag left outside the building on January 28.

In the letter, the robber, whose identity is unknown, said he borrowed money from loan sharks and could not pay it back. After continuous harassment through text messages and phone calls, he could not take it anymore and decided to commit the robbery.

He said he deeply regretted his action.

"I didn’t expect there would be so much money. [The one I robbed] must have had some urgent businesses to have that kind of money."

"I promise to pay it back to society in the future. I hope everyone can forgive a sinner like me and I would like to sincerely apologize to the one I robbed," he said.

He concluded the letter by asking the People's Committee members to return the cash and phones to the victim.

Investigations showed that the robbery did indeed happen on January 28 in An Phu Ward. Phan Thi Bich Tuyen, 25, was driving her motorbike when a man, also on a motorbike, snatched her bag. The bag contained VND107 million ($4,600) in cash, an iPhone X and an iPhone 6.

After failing to chase down the robber, Tuyen reported the incident to An Phu police. He reportedly kept VND7 million and returned the rest.

Local media later reported that Tuyen has requested the police not to track down the robber.

"I believe everyone is good at heart," she said.

7,600 loan-related crimes have been recorded in Vietnam in the last four years, according to data from the Ministry of Public Security.

56 of them were murder cases and the rest includes intentionally inflicting injury, robberies, seizing properties and assets using force, frauds and scams.