Gang sent to prison for stabbing American man in Vietnam

A court in the central province on Monday handed prison sentences to five people, all of who are residents of the province: Nguyen Thi Van, 38, Uong Sy Linh, 36, and Nguyen Thanh Hung, Pham Duy Dat, and Nguyen Tu Phuoc, all 23.

According to the verdict, a Vietnamese American woman identified only by her first name, Ha, had introduced her niece in Vietnam to the American man, 58.

The American and her niece then started dating and soon developed a serious relationship.

When the two decided to get married, Ha claimed that she had introduced the man to her niece, and so should be paid a fee for finding him a wife. It is not clear how much Ha demanded from the American man, who refused to pay her.

Last September, Ha contacted the Vietnamese gang after learning that the American was visiting his fiancée in Vinh Town in Nghe An.

Ha then showed the men a photo of the American and offered them VND28 million (US$2,000) to attack the man as a”warning.”

On the night of Sept. 10, 2022, as the man was strolling along a street in Vinh Town, the four men approached him on two motorbikes, stabbing his legs and causing injuries to 13% of his body.

Police later caught the four attackers.

The court sentenced Van to five years in jail, Dat four and a half years, Hung to three years, and Linh and Phuoc to two and a half years each for “deliberately causing injuries.”

The accused have also been ordered to pay the American man VND94 million in damages.

As Ha is living in the U.S., the authorities will verify her behaviors to consider pressing charges later.