Former abbot appeared in court accused of defrauding 4 businessmen

On April 13, Cung, 40 years old, was tried by the People’s Court of Vinh Long province on charges of Fraudulent appropriation of assets According to Clause 4, Article 174 of the Penal Code, the highest penalty frame is life in prison. According to regulations, the person prosecuted in this penalty frame is required to have a defense lawyer while the defendant does not. The jury invited a lawyer to appoint the defendant, but Cung refused and said he would defend himself.

In connection with the case, Nguyen Tuan Si, 54 years old, was charged with the same crime. Particularly Le Nguyen Khoa, 36 years old, is wanted, the investigation agency separates and handles later.

4 businesswomen were summoned to participate in the trial, in which a 42-year-old victim in Ho Chi Minh City had an application to be absent.

In 2005, Pham Van Cung was a monk at Phuoc Quang pagoda in Tam Binh district, Vinh Long province, taking the legal name Thich Phuoc Ngoc. Three years later, Cung was appointed abbot of this temple and began to apply for permission to build a Buddhist Orphanage Center Fountain of love to raise orphans. At the end of 2012, this center came into operation, led by Cung as director.

According to the indictment, Cung organized many programs, introduced himself to senior leaders at the Central Government, made videos about charity activities of pagodas and orphanages, etc., and posted them on social networks to promote, Build credibility and trust with many people.

In 2015, while participating in a charity program in Ho Chi Minh City, Cung became acquainted with two 50-year-old businesswomen and then invited him to Vinh Long to visit the temple with the orphanage. The liar is owed many billions of dong by building pagodas, Buddha statues, orphanages to borrow money from them. The abbot also discussed with his assistant Le Nguyen Khoa making up the story that he was kidnapped by his creditor and kept under house arrest in China, then pretended to be ill… to “extort” more money.

Next, Cung hired Si to pretend to be the recipient of his car, and then asked the businesswoman to redeem it. Trusting the temple abbot, the woman repeatedly transferred a total of 40 billion VND to the Palace. When the incident was discovered, he returned part of it, and appropriated 11.6 billion VND from the victim.

In 2017, after getting acquainted and building trust with a female Buddhist in Hanoi, Cung and Khoa continued to build a scenario of being “kidnapped by gangsters”, defrauding this person of 26 billion VND to share. spending.

A year later, during a visit to the Russian Federation, Cung became acquainted with a 57-year-old businesswoman from Hung Yen. The abbot introduced himself as “International Envoy of the Sri Lankan Government’s Committee for Commendation and Commendation of Buddhism” and invited her to Vinh Long to visit Phuoc Quang Pagoda. When she returned home, Cung invited a number of monks from Vinh Long to Hung Yen to perform an offering ceremony to create luck for her family’s business.

Knowing that the businesswoman trusted, Cung said many times that he was sick, or was carrying a debt on behalf of Buddhists and relatives, so he had to flee to Tibet for fear of arrest by the police… and asked her for help. In this way, Cung received a total of more than 17 billion VND from the victim. When discovered, he returned more than 3 billion dong, the rest appropriated.

Cung also claimed to be “a secret agent, intelligence of the Government”, knowing many officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs … promised to help bring the relatives of a 42-year-old female singer from the UK to Vietnam to live legally for one million. USD, subject to a 50% advance payment. This person transferred more than 13 billion VND and was appropriated by Cung.

In mid-2020, the behavior of Cung and his accomplices were denounced by the victims. In August 2020, the Executive Board of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha in Vinh Long province issued a decision for abbot Thich Phuoc Ngoc (ie Pham Van Cung) to return to the world. At the same time, revoke the certificate of ordination, certification of monks and nuns and remove names from the list of monks and nuns…

At the end of 2020, Cung was detained by the Vinh Long Provincial Police; Si was released on bail.

The investigative agency determined, Pham Van Cung, with the role of mastermind, together with Le Nguyen Khoa and Nguyen Tuan Si, cheated 4 victims of nearly 68 billion VND.

The trial is expected to last until April 14.

Kowloon