Nguyen Van Tam, the former lover of Tran Thuy Lieu, who burned her husband, a journalist, to death in January 2011, has taken legal action against her for failing to repay her debt to him and appropriating land from him.
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| Nguyen Van Tam and his former lover, Tran Thuy Lieu - Photo: Zing |
Tam was Lieu’s lover for a long time before the killing. He was dismissed from the post of head of a local market control team and expelled from the Communist Party after it was discovered that he was having an affair with Lieu and committed other wrongdoings such as gambling.
Lieu, 41, of Tan An town, has been detained since February 2011 after to burning 51-year-old Le Hoang Hung, a journalist at Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper.
According to Tam’s complaint, in June 2009, he lent VND100 million (USD4,800) to Lieu at an interest rate of 3 percent per month. Two months later, he provided her withVND50 million at the same rate.
Tam said Lieu had repaid VND78 million to him as interest on the loan, but since January 2011 she has not paid any more interest or any of the loan principals.
Their credit relations were conducted verbally, not in writing, Tam said.
In September 2009, Lieu assigned a 100-square meter plot of land in the Dai Duong residential area in Ward 6, Tan An Town, to Tam for VND260 million (USD12,500).
She, however, later used the land as a mortgage for a loan under the guarantee of the Dai Duong Private Enterprise, the investor of the residential area, Tam said.
Tam now wants Lieu and Dai Duong to return the land to him.
The chief judge said Tam’s lawsuit was acceptable, but the court would only handle his complaint about Lieu’s debt and would refer the land dispute to the Ward 6 People’s Committee for reconcilement under prevailing regulations.
The judge assigned to handle the lawsuit had asked the provincial police to meet Lieu, but his request was denied. Therefore, the Tan An Town People’s Court yesterday proposed the superior court issue an order to extract Lieu from prison so that the judge can work with her regarding Tam’s complaints.
The provincial People’s Court has decided to open a trial for Lieu for the charge of murder on March 29, 2012.
According to the case file, since mid 2010, Lieu and Hung had many arguments over money and the fact that Lieu often gambled in Cambodia and had an affair.
On January 19, 2011, when he was sleeping in their house in the town. Lieu later pretended to extinguish the fire and rushed him to hospital.
Hung, a reporter covering crimes and anti-corruption cases, died 10 days later.
Lieu, who turned herself in to the police on February 20 last year, told investigators that she had wanted to burn him just as a warning, since he often beat her because of her debts and gambling habit.
The case had to be re-investigated twice at the request of the provincial People’s Court, Lieu’s mother, and the editorial board of Nguoi Lao Dong.
Recently, the Long An Province People’s Procuracy has issued that re-confirmed Lieu as the sole culprit in the murder, rejecting an allegation that Tam might have also been involved in the crime.
