Defendant's appeal in the case of "reclaiming the child given away to Bong Lai Monastery"

After two postponements, on September 11, the People's Court of Long An province opened an appeal hearing for the civil case "dispute request to terminate adoption" between the plaintiff, Ms. Tran Thi My Dung, and the defendant, Ms. Cao Thi Cuc (living in Tinh That Bong Lai).

At the trial, the panel of judges rejected the defendant's appeal and upheld the first instance judgment.

Previously, on March 4, the Duc Hoa District People's Court held a first-instance trial and ordered Ms. Cuc and related people at Bong Lai Monastery to return baby TGB to Ms. Dung to raise, care for, and educate.

It is known that baby TGB is still at Bong Lai Monastery.

According to the lawsuit, Ms. Dung requested the Duc Hoa District People's Court to declare the termination of the adoption of Ms. Cuc so that she could take the child back to raise. Previously, Ms. Dung gave baby TGB to Ms. Cuc because she mistakenly thought that Tinh That Bong Lai was a temple specializing in adopting orphans and children in difficult circumstances for charity purposes.

However, Bong Lai Monastery is not a religious place of worship according to the law. At the same time, after adopting baby TGB, Ms. Cuc posted pictures of the baby on social media, which could affect the baby in the future.

In addition, Ms. Cuc is currently serving a prison sentence, so she will not have the conditions to raise the child... When authorities such as the police and the court come to work, this facility does not open or cooperate; and Ms. Dung and her mother are not allowed to visit TGB by the people living here. All of this goes against the original agreement of "allowing the mother to visit her child at any time"...

Disagreeing with the judgment of the court of first instance, Ms. Cuc appealed to overturn the judgment of first instance.

It is known that Tinh That Bong Lai was founded by Mr. Le Tung Van. In 1990, Mr. Le Tung Van (born in 1932) from his hometown in Chau Doc, An Giang moved to Hamlet 2, Pham Van Hai Commune, Binh Chanh District, Ho Chi Minh City and then founded Thanh Duc Nursing Home and Orphanage.

There are dozens of people here who are introduced as destitute elderly people and orphans who are being raised by Mr. Van and who have started calling and guiding philanthropists and charities to visit. Mr. Van always wears blue clothes and forces people in the "camp" to call him "father" or "grandfather". According to information in the CAND newspaper, in 2007, local authorities inspected and suspended the operation of this facility due to many violations such as illegal operations and self-carved seals.

In 2015, Mr. Le Tung Van came to live at the house of Ms. Cao Thi Cuc (191A, Lap Thanh Hamlet, Hoa Khanh Tay Commune, Duc Hoa District, Long An) and named this facility "Tinh That Bong Lai". This place also has similar characteristics to the previous Thanh Duc orphanage such as all members wearing blue clothes, being called "teachers", having shaved hair... but much more sophisticated due to the support of social networks.

According to information from Vietnamnet, the first scenario is that many individuals at Bong Lai Monastery appear on social networks and television in monk costumes, claiming to be orphans raised by "Grandfather Master".

The incident of 5 children winning high prizes when participating in the program "Comedy Challenge" has made many people sympathize. Since then, money and charity from benefactors at home and abroad have poured into Bong Lai Monastery more and more.

In addition, individuals at Bong Lai Monastery established and managed a series of personal and collective Youtube channels such as Le Thanh Huyen Tran Official, Nhat Nguyen - Thien am ben bo vu tru, Nhat Nguyen - Hoan Nguyen, 5 little monks - Thien am ben bo vu tru... with the purpose of calling for charity.

Many organizations and individuals at home and abroad have donated money and gifts to the group at Bong Lai Monastery, but this group also used the money for purposes other than the original charity appeal.

Le Thanh Nhat Nguyen was identified by the investigation agency as one of the people who received the charity money through personal accounts or directly. Besides Nhat Nguyen, there were many other people involved in the fraud.

Vợ thầy ông nội Tịnh Thất Bồng Lai qua đời khi tại ngoại, em ruột hé lộ tin sốc! Đình Như10:32:06 29/07/2024Tối 28/7, Công an tỉnh Long An cho biết bị can Lê Thu Vân (SN 1957, vợ ông Lê Tùng Vân) đã qua đời. Bà Vân là bị can trong vụ án Tịnh thất Bồng Lai, được cho tại ngoại và hiện trú tại hộ Cao Thị Cúc.