Five males imprisoned for blackmailing a South Korean restaurant proprietor in Hanoi.
In the heart of Hanoi, a South Korean restaurant owner found herself the victim of a prolonged campaign of property extortion. Five men from Ha Tinh province targeted the owner, leading to their sentencing to up to 13 years in prison by the Hanoi People's Court.
The saga began when Yang Jung Suk, a South Korean national, asked Buì Quang Trung to help recover a VND1.4 billion (US$53,400) debt from a South Korean woman named J., who owns a restaurant in Hanoi. Trung, who had previously worked in South Korea and remained in contact with Yang after returning to Vietnam in 2019, called in a group of acquaintances from Ha Tinh to increase the pressure on J.
The group's tactics were relentless. From August 20 to 22, they repeatedly disrupted J's restaurant by occupying tables and handing out defamatory flyers. On September 24, they returned with more flyers, causing J to shut the restaurant and give Trung VND10 million.
The climax came on the morning of September 29, when Trung and the group arrived at the restaurant, demanding the rest of the money. J refused to pay, stating that she had already settled the debt. Police arrived and took the group into custody for questioning.
J later requested VND300 million in compensation for lost business revenue. The defendants were found guilty of harassment, intimidation, and temporary business closure of a South Korean restaurant owner in Hanoi. The Hanoi People's Court jailed Buì Quang Trung for 13 years, Nguyễn Quốc Nhật 12 years, Hồ Văn Vũ and Nguyễn Tất Hùng 11 years each, and Đậu Văn Tuyên 10 years.
In total, the five men from Ha Tinh were sentenced to a total of 57 years in prison for their extortion activities. However, it is important to clarify that there is no evidence from the available sources that the restaurant owner was imprisoned or that the sentence was as long as 57 years for this group.
J called for the men to be prosecuted, and the case serves as a reminder of the importance of upholding the law and protecting business owners from such harassment and extortion.
- The case of the South Korean restaurant owner in Hanoi, victim of an extortion campaign, highlights the intersection of business and crime-and-justice.
- The sentencing of five men from Ha Tinh province to up to 13 years in prison for their role in the extortion of a South Korean national, demonstrates the involvement of politics in the judicial process.
- As the global business landscape continues to evolve (general-news), incidents like this serve as a stark reminder of the potential threats posed by war-and-conflicts and AI-driven disinformation campaigns in impacting small businesses abroad.
