Prosecutor recommends upholding verdict in favor of beauty queen

Miss Grand International 2021 Nguyen Thuc Thuy Tien. Photo from Tien's Instagram

The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court on Tuesday opened the appeal of the ruling against the lawsuit filed by businesswoman Dang Thuy Trang to reclaim an alleged debt owed by Miss Grand International 2021 Thuy Tien.

Present in court to proffer suggestions to the judges and ensure that the final verdict falls in line with the law, a prosecutor from the HCMC People's Procuracy said the court should preserve the initial verdict given by the Go Vap District People’s Court in May this year.

Trang sued Tien in November last year, claiming that the beauty contest winner had not paid her a 1.5-billion-dong debt that she said Tien borrowed in 2017 to prepare for her appearance in a beauty contest that same year.

She said Tien signed a promissory note as proof she had borrowed the money, and accused the beauty pageant star of having torn up the document.

She thus demanded Tien pay her a total amount of VND2.4 billion in money owed and compensation, along with publicly apologizing to her.

The Go Vap District People’s Court tried the case in May this year. Denying all of Trang’s claims by citing "lack of concrete evidence," the verdict was in Tien’s favor.

Trang subsequently filed an appeal at the HCMC People’s Court.

During the appeal, Trang maintained her claims that she had given VND1.5 billion in cash to Tien and that Tien had destroyed the promissory note.

Tien’s legal representative denied the claims, saying that the beauty queen had indeed signed the note, but ended up not receiving any money from Trang.

The trial panel consequently decided to adjourn the hearing of the case for more time to "verify matters." The trial is expected to resume on Nov. 14.

Tien, 24, was born Nguyen Thuc Thuy Tien in HCMC. She was crowned the 2021 Miss Grand International in Bangkok, making her the first Vietnamese to win the beauty pageant. After the contest, she became known for her charity projects and other volunteer activities.