Prosecutors in central Da Nang City have proposed life imprisonment to a thief who, with the aid of his accomplice, has allegedly carried out 36 thefts to pocket US$495,000 in four years.
The city People’s Court yesterday opened a hearing for 31-year-old Dang Ngoc Tan, the “super thief”, and his accomplice, Nguyen Huu Phuoc, 30, who were arrested for last year after committing a series of thefts in the city in the 2008-2011 period.
They were charged of “stealing property” under Article 138 of the Penal Code, the court said.
Also being tried yesterday was Tan’s wife, Nguyen Bach Duong, who was charged with “consuming property acquired through the commission of crime by other persons”.
The prosecutor at court proposed that the jury sentence Tan to life imprisonment and give Phuoc and Duong 14-15 years and 8-10 years in prison respectively.
According to the indictment of the prosecutor’s office, Tan and Phuoc had stolen a total amount of VND10.3 billion, or over $495,000. Tan then used VND541 million (US$26,000) stolen from the house at 182 Ly Tu Trong Street and over VND1 billion taken away from another house on 16 Dao Duy Anh Street to buy a Toyota Venza car in the name of his father-in-law, the indictment said.
Tan also allegedly used a part of the money gained from the thefts to buy a lot of land for VND2.5 billion ($120,000) in the name of his parents.
Meanwhile, Tan told the court that he had carried out only 29 thefts, not 36 as shown in the indictment, and that he had expended all the stolen money on his own pleasure activities, not on buying a car or any properties.
He added that he had given Phuoc a total amount of about VND100 million.
Tan rejected the charge on his wife, arguing that Duong could not be so indicted since she did not known that the money he gave her had come from stealing.
The hearing will continue on June 10 and the jury is expected to pronounce sentences on the defendants that day.
Đăng ký: VietNam News
