Collection of judgments on crime of illegal impoundment of property in Vietnam

Hello, Lawnet would like to answer as follows:

In Article 176 of the Penal Code 2015, which was amended in 2017, there are provisions on the crime of illegally possessing property as follows:

Article 176. Illegal impoundment of property

1. Any person who finds or mistakenly receives a piece of property which is assessed at from VND 10,000,000 to under VND 200,000,000, a relic or an antique which is assessed at under VND 10,000,000 or an item of historical or cultural value but deliberately fails to return it to its legitimate owner or fails to submit it a competent authority after the owner or the competent authority requests the return or submission of such property as prescribed by law shall be liable to a fine of from VND 10,000,000 to VND 50,000,000 or face a penalty of up to 02 years' community sentence or 03 - 24 months' imprisonment.

2. If the property obtained is assessed at ≥ VND 200,000,000 or national treasure, the offender shall face a penalty of 01 - 05 years' imprisonment.

Below are some judgments on crime of illegal impoundment of property:

1. Judgment on illegal impoundment of property No. 41/2021/HS-ST

- Level of trial: First instance

- Judicial body: People's Court of Quy Nhon city, Binh Dinh province

- Quoted content: "At about 22:30 on June 10, 2021, after Huynh Gia K, Ho Nguyen Quang H, Le Diep D, Nguyen Bao P, and Nguyen Ngoc District 1 finished drinking coffee at H30, the group left. When he got up to leave, he dropped 01 wallet on the chair where D sat, inside the wallet were 13,700,000 VND and 01 bank ATM card named Le Diep D. K also got up to go out but dropped the lighter, so he went back to get it and found D's wallet on the chair and K's lighter dropped nearby. K knew that this wallet belonged to D, so he picked up the wallet and lighter, put them in his coat pocket, and then went with H and Q1 to Q1's house. After that, K told H about finding D's wallet and asked H to share this money together; H agreed. K gives H an amount of VND 4,600,000, and H keeps VND 9,100,000. At about 23 o'clock on the same day, D discovered that his wallet had been dropped, so he called the group to return to the shop. Here, D asked K and H if he took D's wallet, but K and H both refused. On the morning of June 11, 2021, group D went to K's house and told K that he had seen on the camera that K had returned to his seat and asked K "If you pick up the wallet, give it back to me," but K still did not admit it. Then D reported D to the police. During the investigation, Huynh Gia K and Ho Nguyen Quang H confessed all of their crimes."

2. Judgment on illegal impoundment of property No. 326/2021/HS-ST

- Level of trial: First instance

- Judicial body: People's Court of Nam Tu Liem district, Hanoi city

- Quoted content: "Le Minh C is the owner of account number 1903585404xxxx of bank T. On October 24, 2020, the above-mentioned account of C received an amount of VND 140,000,000. At that time, C knew that someone else's money had been transferred by mistake but did not know who specifically. Because he needed money for personal expenses, on October 24, 2020, C withdrew an amount of VND 4,500,000 to pay for goods and buy medicine for himself. On October 26, 2020, C continued to withdraw VND 40,000,000 for personal spending and transferred VND 20,000,000 to pay for goods. The remaining money was used for many different purposes, such as buying and selling goods, paying insurance for himself, and for personal expenses. About 1 month after receiving the above amount, Bank T contacted Le Minh C about someone transferring the wrong amount, because he had withdrawn the money to spend, so C said he would check again. After a few months, the bank continued to contact C to ask if he agreed to let the bank provide C's phone number to the bank and the person who transferred the wrong money, but C disagreed. After that, the Investigation Police Agency - Nam Tu Liem District Police requested Le Minh C to hand over the amount of VND 140,000,000 that Mr. T mistakenly transferred. Mr. Nguyen Van T also asked C to return the above amount, but C was unable to fix the above amount, did not return the money to Mr. T. The Court then declared defendant Le Minh C guilty of "illegal impoundment of property".

Penalties: Defendant Le Minh C 12 (Twelve) months in prison. The prison term is counted from the date of judgment enforcement. Returning the property forces Le Minh C to return to Mr. Nguyen Van T the amount of VND 140,000,000."

3. Judgment on illegal impoundment of property No. 120/2021/HS-ST

- Level of trial: First instance

- Judicial body: People's Court of Dien Chau district, Nghe An province

- Quoted content: "Nguyen Quoc V is a restaurant waiter. At about 21:00 on March 25, 2021, in the process of preparing a table at V restaurant, he discovered that there was a customer's brown leather wallet that he had forgotten. Inside the wallet were 20,200,000 VND and some identification papers named Le Thi T. V had an intention to appropriate the above amount, so he brought the wallet to V's bedroom to hide it and then continued to clean the table. After finishing cleaning, V asked Mr. Nguyen Trong L to leave work to go home, and Mr. L agreed. Then V took a taxi and brought the wallet home. On the way, V got out of the car, took all the money, and then threw away the wallet and papers. At about 22:45 on the same day, Nguyen Trong L called to make an appointment with V to come to the restaurant to have a job, and V agreed. Here, V met Mr. L and Ms. T. At this time, Mr. L advised V that if he found the wallet, he would return it, but V denied it and confirmed that he could not pick up Ms. T's wallet. At the police station of commune P, V firmly denied all his crimes, but through the process of struggle, he confessed all his crimes. The court declared defendant Nguyen Quoc V guilty of "illegal impoundment of property"

3. Judgment on illegal impoundment of property No. 300/2021/HS-ST

- Level of trial: First instance

- Judicial body: People's Court of Bien Hoa city, Dong Nai province

- Quoted content: "Around 8 p.m. on August 5, 2020, Mr. Huynh Van T drove the car on National Highway 51. When going to the house at 41x National Highway 51, because the road was flooded, Mr. T's car was knocked down by the water, causing the trunk to open. The wallet inside with the amount of 12,425,000 VND that Mr. T left in the trunk of the car fell out, but Mr. T did not know. Nguyen The H was standing in front of the house, using a flashlight to signal the car to slow down to avoid the water entering his house, when he saw Mr. T's wallet floating on the water, so he used a tow and hid it in his body. People walking on the street saw that H had picked up the wallet and told Mr. T. Mr. T went to see H to ask for the wallet back, but H did not admit to having picked it up and left the house to hide the wallet. On the morning of August 6, 2020, H took the amount of VND 12,400,000 and left VND 25,000 and some of Mr. T's identification papers in his wallet and threw it on Highway 51. After that, Mr. Nguyen Bi D. picked up the wallet and returned it to Mr. T. After Nguyen The H did not return the wallet, Mr. T went to the Police Department of Ward B to report. At the police station in Ward B, Nguyen The H admitted his crime. The court declared defendant Nguyen The H guilty of "illegal impoundment of property" and sentenced: defendant Nguyen The H 03 months in prison. The prison term is counted from the date the defendant enters the prison to serve his sentence.

4. Judgment on illegal impoundment of property No. 242/2018/HS-ST

- Level of trial: First instance

- Judicial body: People's Court of City Z, Khanh Hoa province

- Quoted content: "About 11:30 am on April 10, 2018, Ms. Chu Thi Ngoc H went to shop number 61 TBT, PT ward, owned by Dang Thi Kim L to buy clothes. A while after Ms. H left, she discovered that she had left her mobile phone on the store's clothing shelf. Ms. H called the phone number of the iPhone 7 Plus -128 GB, then Dang Thi Kim L discovered the phone and turned off the power. Then L hid H's phone in a basket inside L's personal area. At this time, Ms. H returned to the store and asked L to return the phone, but L refused, saying she didn't know. Ms. H went to the store to search and discovered that there was an iPhone 7 Plus, model 128GB, that L was hiding. Ms. H went to the ward police station to report the incident. At the police station, L confessed to all of his crimes. The court sanctioned: defendant Dang Thi Kim L: 15,000,000 VND for the crime of: "illegal impoundment of property" to supplement the State fund.

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