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Seven gold thieves jailed in southern Vietnam

Seven gold thieves jailed in southern Vietnam

Tuesday, July 11, 2017, 10:59 GMT+7

Seven members of a criminal gang have been sentenced to up to 17 years in prison after carrying out a series of robberies at gold shops in southern Vietnam.

Following a two-day trial, the People’s Court in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho imposed lengthy custodial terms on the defendants on Monday.

Ly Van Doi, 53, a resident of District 8 in Ho Chi Minh City, was jailed for 17 years as the mastermind of the group.

Nguyen Van Diep, 45, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, while Phung Thanh Tam, 43, and Le Van Dung, 51, will both serve 14 years.

The jury also charged Le Van Muoi, 40, and Nguyen Minh Thang, 54, with 13-year jail terms, and Nguyen Van Dan, 43, with three years.

According to the indictment, Doi, Thang, Diep, and Tam were all ex-convicts without stable employment and were acquainted with each other.

For some spending money, the four started a gang and recruited Muoi, Dung, and Dan to carry out their plots.

The gang preyed on gold shops located along local rivers in the Mekong Delta, with their method to approach from the waterways and escape by boat.

The group divided themselves into two teams using two rafts and were equipped with tools to break in.

They scouted their targets from the water where they would wait for the right time to sneak inside and steal gold.

Between January 2015 and July 2016, the defendants committed seven burglaries at gold shops in Can Tho City, Tien Giang and Soc Trang Provinces, stealing billions of dong (VND1 billion = US$43,908) worth of gold.

Local officers had been following their activities for months prior to arresting the suspects.

Given the organized nature of their crimes along with their previous convictions, the jury decided to apply the harsh sentences.

Under the previous version of the Penal Code, implemented in 1999, those who stole upwards of VND500 million ($21,954) could face a life sentence.

However, the adjusted Penal Code of 2015 states that the highest sentence for this type of crime is 20 years in prison.

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