A Hanoi man has been given seven years’ imprisonment for stealing US$40,000 left by a South Korean man in his unlocked car in a basement last year.

The municipal People’s Court on Thursday handed down the sentence to 35-year-old Pham Anh Tuan, a resident of Ba Dinh District, on charge of theft, according to Vietnam’s Penal Code.

Tuan was a contract driver of a company responsible for transporting its employees to and from an office building on Lieu Giai Street in Hanoi, the trial panel said.

At around 11:00 am on November 19, 2020, Tuan drove the company’s car to the B4 basement of the building. When he walked up to the B3 basement, Tuan saw a white Nissan car with one of its rear doors left ajar.

Finding no people around, it occurred to Tuan to steal anything possibly left inside the car.

Tuan then approached the car and saw a black leather briefcase inside. He took the briefcase, opened it and found four stacks of money totaling $40,000, equivalent to VND922 million.

The man later went down to the B4 basement to get his car out of the building and drove it home. He then handed all the money to his wife. 

At 2:00 pm on the following day, Tuan turned himself in to local police and confessed his theft.

The man decided to do so as he knew that his criminal act must have been recorded by the security camera system installed in the basement.

Tuan also handed in the entire amount of $40,000 to the police.

At the hearing, the defendant admitted that his crime stemmed from his greed and he begged for leniency from the trial panel.

Meanwhile, Tuan’s wife told the court that she did not know where the money came from.

The aggrieved party at the trial asked the court to give the defendant a mitigation of punishment.

The trial panel judged that Tuan’s crime derived from temporary greed and that he gave himself up to police after committing the crime.

Tuan also actively handed in the entire stolen money to the police, the court said.

After taking all into account, the court handed down such the sentence to the defendant.

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