Female accountant Nguyễn Thị Thu Trang sentenced to 26 years in prison for fraud and use of forged documents

On April 8, 2026, the Bac Ninh Provincial People’s Court held the first-instance trial of defendant Nguyen Thi Thu Trang (born 1991; residing in Bac Giang ward, Bac Ninh province) on two charges: Fraud and Using forged documents of a government agency or organization.

According to the case record, Trang worked as an accountant at L Co., Ltd. in Hap Linh Industrial Zone, Hap Linh ward (Bac Ninh) from October 2023 to September 2024, after which she left and worked as a freelancer. During her employment, several Chinese workers asked Trang to rent self-drive cars for them. Trang rented vehicles from Hoang Si Cong (born 1992; Bac Giang) on behalf of these workers. When renting, Cong typically provided Trang with photocopies of related documents.

How the scheme worked

After some workers indicated they needed loans, Trang devised a plan to rent cars and then pawn them to obtain money for lending and for personal use. When arranging rentals, Trang claimed the vehicles would be used for her own purposes, including transporting workers and company officials, which helped her gain the lenders’ trust.

From November 23, 2023 to October 15, 2024, Trang rented a total of 34 cars from six individuals in Bac Ninh province. To pawn the vehicles, pawn firms required original documents—especially the vehicle registration certificate. Trang searched online for forged documents and, via Facebook, contacted a person named Quan (whose background was not stated in the record). Trang agreed on a price of 2 million VND per set of fake documents. When documents were needed, she photographed them and sent the images for forgery. After receiving the forged vehicle registrations, Trang pawned the rented cars using the fake papers to borrow money.

Trang then used part of the borrowed funds to lend to workers and part for personal spending. In total, she pawned 34 cars to obtain more than 11 billion VND. The record also states that she borrowed her father’s Mazda CX-5 and pawned it as well.

Use of funds and delays in returning vehicles

The proceeds from pawning and mortgaging were initially used for personal and family living expenses. Later, Trang used funds to pay interest, cover car rental costs, and for personal expenses. When the rental periods ended, the lenders demanded the return of the cars, but Trang provided various excuses for delays.

On October 22, 2024, Trang surrendered to the investigative authorities.

Evidence, valuation, and court assessment

The court noted that Trang repeatedly rented cars and used forged documents, which constituted an aggravating circumstance of committing the offense multiple times. Appraisals valued the 34 cars at more than 17 billion VND in total. By the time of the trial, Trang had not compensated the victims or related parties.

During the investigation and trial, Trang did not confess and repeatedly changed her statements, which the court considered to have hindered the case. The court determined her conduct was especially serious, involving deceit to appropriate assets from many people with substantial value.

Sentence and civil obligations

Based on the documents and evidence presented at public examination and arguments, and after considering aggravating and mitigating factors, the Bac Ninh Provincial People’s Court sentenced Nguyen Thi Thu Trang to 20 years in prison for “Fraud and misappropriation of assets” and 6 years for “Using forged documents of government agencies or organizations.” The total sentence is 26 years.

The court also required Trang to compensate civil obligations as prescribed by law.