Men jailed for stealing seven Bitcoins worth $287,000 from friend

Three individuals have been sentenced to prison for their involvement in the theft of seven Bitcoins, equivalent to VND 7 billion (approximately $287,500), from a man in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The perpetrators, Pham Van Thuan (32), Nguyen Thai Son (33), and Nguyen Cong Dung (44), utilized a recovery code discovered on a note left in a borrowed laptop bag. Thuan, facing financial challenges, had stayed with the victim, Trieu, and, upon discovering the recovery phrase, later logged into Trieu's Trust Wallet to access the cryptocurrency. After stealing the Bitcoins, Thuan returned the bag with the note.

Following the theft, Trieu reported the incident to the police. Son and Dung aided Thuan in hiding, and the trio negotiated to share the stolen funds. Son and Dung converted 1.8 Bitcoins into USDT, selling them for over VND 775 million, which was spent, including investments in cryptocurrency that resulted in losses. Thuan fled to Son's hometown in Lam Dong province, where he was eventually arrested. The defendants were sentenced for charges related to computer network offenses and property appropriation, with Thuan receiving 13 years, Son eight years and six months, and Dung 10 years in prison. Since current Vietnamese laws do not recognize Bitcoin and other virtual currencies as legal means of payment, the charges were based on the converted amount in Vietnamese currency.