Following an important clue provided by the Criminal Science Institute, a Kien Giang Province court has requested a criminal investigation into a lawsuit that has lasted for over two years between a woman and a local lottery agent.
>> New clue found in $72,000 lottery lawsuit
Nguyen Thanh Duc, chief judge at the southern province’s Rach Gia City People’s Court, said on Thursday that the court has sent a proposal to the local police asking them to launch a criminal investigation into the litigation as signs of criminal activity have been found in the civil dispute.
The court is handling a lawsuit involving plaintiff Nguyen Thi Tuyet of Chau Thanh District and the Trieu Phat Lottery Agent based in Rach Gia. Tuyet claims that the agent cheated her to steal her winning ticket worth VND1.5 billion (US$72,000).
While the court is handling the case, the Criminal Science Institute, under the Ministry of Public Security, has announced a discovery that could serve as an important clue in the complicated lawsuit.
The new finding is that the lottery ticket that Tuyet handed to the agent when she came to claim the her winnings is different from the ticket returned by the agent to Tuyet after verification.
The finding was made after investigators of the Institute, under the Ministry of Public Security, closely scrutinized a video clip that recorded Tuyet’s interactions with the agent in question.
Tuyet told media that her life has been distraught since Trieu Phat refused to give her the winnings and alleged that her ticket was fake. “I hope the competent agencies can shed light on the case as soon as possible.”
2-year suit
According to the case file, on July 22, 2011, Tuyet and her son Nguyen Van Duoc brought a lottery ticket with the number 938368 issued by the An Giang Lottery Ticket Co Ltd to the Trieu Phat Lottery Agent to claim their prize.
After examining the ticket, Ngo Xuong Phuc, the agency’s owner, confirmed it was a winning ticket. Both parties agreed that the prize would be paid in 20 taels of gold and an amount of cash.
Phuc then gave the winning ticket back to Tuyet so she could write her name, ID number, and signature on the back of the ticket.
After completing the procedure, Tuyet returned the ticket to Phuc, who then handed it to his nephew for re-verification. After examining the ticket, Phuc’s nephew claimed that the ticket was not real, since some numbers had obviously been glued onto it.
Phuc refused to give Tuyet the winnings and his nephew called police to the scene.
On October 14, 2011, the police issued a decision not to investigate the case because “the lottery ticket brought to the Trieu Phat Agent by Nguyen Thi Tuyet had been modified; Duoc could not identify who had sold the ticket to him; and there is no evidence to suggest that the agent had cheated Tuyet and Duoc by keeping the winning ticket and returning a fake one.”
However, Tuyet insisted that the agent had cheated her to steal the winning ticket. She then lodged complaints to the above court about the case.
On December 12, 2012, the Kien Giang Province People’s Procuracy rejected her complaint, stating “there is no ground for handling the complaint.”
Unsatisfied with the Procuracy’s decision, Tuyet brought the case to the above court, which conducted two reconciliation sessions but failed to settle the case.
But now, based on the conclusion of the Criminal Science Institute, the court has demanded a criminal probe into the case.
Đăng ký: VietNam News