The Changhua District Court on Wednesday sentenced two Vietnamese men to up to seven-and-a-half years in prison for robbing another Vietnamese national and for weapon possession.
The defendants, surnamed Le and Hoang, were sentenced to prison terms of three years and eight months, and seven-and-a-half years respectively.
Their accomplice, surnamed Tran, was not convicted of a crime due to his minor role in the case and for cooperating with police in the investigation, the court said.
The ruling can be appealed.
Le and Hoang, who worked in Taiwan as legal migrants, in April 2021 broke into the residence of the victim, surnamed Nguyen, in Changhua County’s Lugang Township (鹿港) to settle a debt owed by Nguyen to their friend, known as “A Tai.”
They also accused Nguyen of having an affair with A Tai’s wife and wanted to vent their anger at him, the ruling said.
The duo then forced Nguyen at knifepoint to get into a vehicle driven by Tran and took NT$30,000 in cash from his house before driving to Taichung’s Longjing District (龍井).
Hoang and Tran got out of the vehicle on the way, leaving Nguyen alone with Le, who drove to Yunlin County’s Douliu City (斗六), the court said.
While inside the vehicle, Le told Nguyen to call his brother in Vietnam and ask him to wire 120 million Vietnamese dong (US$5,062) to a bank account in Vietnam, the court said.
Le returned Nguyen to Lugang after the money transfer was made, the court said.
Nguyen reported the incident to Changhua police, who tracked down Le, Hoang and Tran, while A Tai’s identity remained unknown.
Le and Hoang during trial admitted to having intimidated Nguyen, but denied robbing him.
However, citing testimony from Nguyen and Tran, as well as other evidence, the court ruled that Nguyen had no way of resisting the defendants’ demands due to the threat of force, which constitutes robbery.
Tran was not convicted because he only drove the vehicle and did not enter Nguyen’s home, the court said.
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