HÀ NỘI — Hà Nội police on Monday reported they had detained a suspect for investigation into a cheating case related to property appropriation.

According to the initial investigation, Nguyễn Văn Điệp, 23, from Cẩm Khê District’s Phương Xá in Phú Thọ Province, lived in a rented house on Hà Nội’s Láng Hạ Street.

In September 2015, through associations in Hà Nội, Điệp introduced himself to some acquaintances, saying he worked at a bank in Đống Đa District and had many connections who could assist with good jobs in the Police Agency and other important State agencies.

Many people imposed their trust in him and gave him money and their job applications.

To make the scam appear more credible, Điệp searched for recruitment information on the internet and gave those seeking jobs fake appointment papers of employee recruitment agents and their phone numbers.

But in reality, the phone number he gave out was his own number, which he used to ask victims to come to a State office for a job interview.

However, when the victims arrived, Điệp told them the State staff was busy or made up some other reason, and were therefore unable to conduct the interview.

Điệp immediately collected the appointment papers to avoid detection by the police and cut off all contact with the victims.

According to the investigation agency, Điệp was involved in nearly 40 cases of cheating with amount of money equal to over VNĐ7 billion (US$311,000).

He later returned VNĐ4 million (over $177,700) to the victims he had defrauded.

Lieutenant Colonel Võ Nam Hưng told An Ninh Thủ Đô newspaper that very few people came to the police station to report the incident, causing additional difficulties for the investigation.

He urged victims to report the incident to the police to help them swiftly investigate, prosecute and get a judgement in accordance with the law and also to ensure the rights and interests of the victims of the fraud. — VNS