Tinh That Bong Lai: Vietnam's Most Sacrilegious Scandal (Pt. 1)
Incest, cult, entertainment involvement, Tinh That Bong Lai got it all!
We’ve been delving into so many cases so far, from Dark web kingpin, serial killer to Internet mystery. So this time, I decided to take you on a trip to Vietnam where we’ll dig into the case of Tinh That Bong Lai.
It has incest, entertainment entity involvement, illegal cult and so much more. Are you ready?
1. The Monks And The Fame
Long before everything started, it was “Thanh Duc Orphanage and Elderly Care Center” spearheaded by a man called Le Tung Van.
This facility was home to more than 50 orphan children across the province and they were living peacefully. Le Tung Van was often seen wearing a Buddhist robe, instructing those in this so-called “Care Center” to call him “father” or “grandfather”. He would name the children who were brought to this place with his own surname, Le.
Until one day, it was exposed by law enforcement and the media that this “Orphanage and Elderly Care Center” wasn’t what it looked like from the outside. Among the 56 individuals residing inside the facility, there were 22 children under 16 years old, 4 people aged 17-18 years old, 21 people aged 19-50 years old, and 9 people from 55 to 60 years old.
To manage them, Le Tung Van divided these individuals into 2 groups: the “study group” and the “work group” (all those aged 15 and above were in the “work group”). “There's no schooling here. There are no teachers, and the houses are still lacking, so where would we get classrooms...,” a woman at the center said [1]. In fact, Le Tung Van forced the “work group” to work as vagrants and beggars to collect throwaways to feed his fish pond.
Occasionally, some children were beaten and chained up by Le Tung Van. He explained to the concerned neighbors that the children were mentally unstable and he was just afraid of them getting lost. There was also another child who, for violating his discipline, was tied up and hung from the ceiling, and then beaten by several people in the care center.
Due to the scandalous revelation, the center had to shut down in 2007. However, Le Tung Van was left unscathed as there was not enough evidence.
7 years later, Le Tung Van moved to Long An province to live with a woman named Cao Thi Cuc. Cuc’s home was turned into a large Buddhist facility for laypeople called “Tinh That Bong Lai”, Van wanted to start anew.
Though they were just Buddhists who practiced at home, they admitted a number of orphan children who were abandoned by their parents at birth as novices, according to the monks residing in the facility.
Five out of six novices quickly went viral across the Internet for their adorable and witty performance on a comedy show called “Crack Them Up” in 2018. After setting an unprecedented record on this gameshow by winning 300 million VND (~$11,000), the lives of these orphaned children received a lot of love and attention from the audience [2].
People started to rush to Tinh That Bong Lai, hoping to see the five novices once or just to send them gifts and money. The public did a quick research on the facility and the people caring for the novices. The monks and nuns who lived there were identified as Le Thanh Hoan Nguyen (Male, 1990), Le Thanh Nhat Nguyen (Male, 1991), Le Thanh Ky Duyen (Female, 1993), Le Thanh Huyen Trang (Female, 1993), Vong Thi Kim Xuan (Female, 1995), Le Thanh Trung Duong (Male, 1995), Le Thanh Nhi Nguyen (Male, 1998), and Cao Thi Cuc (Female, 1960) [3].
Realizing that this could be a chance to milk the newfound reputation they got, the monks set up a YouTube channel for the children, actively promoted their lives in Tinh That Bong Lai through daily vlogs, and ultimately agreed to let the novices join “Crack Them Up” again, which earned them another 100 million VND rewards (~$4,000).
At some point, they even became the national sweethearts, the public was willing enough to stand by their side when the riot against them occurred on October 24th, 2019.
According to Hoan Nguyen, a group of about 50 strangers forcefully entered Tinh That Bong Lai. They rammed the main door and broke through the side fence to intrude. "After making it inside, they said nothing but ransacked everything recklessly. They did not answer why they were here. Only after they had finished searching did they say they came to find their 22-year-old daughter named Diem My. Then they accused me of kidnapping their daughter, claiming she had been held captive here for over 2 months," said Hoan Nguyen [4].
People were so mad about the fact that one of the monks, Nhi Nguyen, got assaulted with a piece of broken ceramic tile by a stranger, causing severe bleeding. Punches and insults were thrown at the scene, and the children were terrified. The police later arrested the intruders, the public believed they got it coming.
However, little did the public know that the horrifying truth concealed within the walls of Tinh That Bong Lai, once revealed, would justify the riot’s motive.
2. The Disappearance Of Diem My
The Meeting That Changed Everything
Diem My was born in Ho Chi Minh City on March 18th, 1999, into a fairly wealthy family. Diem My was an energetic and intelligent young lady who aspired to be a capable accountant in the future, according to her family.
She was a junior student at Ho Chi Minh City University of Foreign Languages and Information Technology (HUFLIT). In April 2019, Diem My and her class had a trip to a pagoda in Vung Tau for charity, the kind-hearted girl was enthusiastic about the trip. During the visit, Diem My met a 17-year-old Buddhist nun named Huyen Tran, who was the oldest one of the six orphans in Tinh That Bong Lai.
Huyen Tran was a talented singer, she even made it to the Semi-final round of “The Voice Kid Vietnam” in 2014. The public was awed by her talent and her living conditions as an orphan in Tinh That Bong Lai, they supported her with love. Even one of the biggest Vietnamese singers, Quang Le, offered to adopt her. However, she soon parted ways with him because, well, he wanted her to wear wigs and costumes on stage, which went against her will.
And she was no longer appearing on stage.
When Diem My met Huyen Tran, the young nun invited Diem My to Tinh That Bong Lai, which she accepted. The two then exchanged numbers, Huyen Tran promised to call Diem My after the trip.
Well, she did call her. Diem My was so excited about this visit that she immediately asked her parents if she could travel to Tinh That Bong Lai to meet her new friend, to which they said yes. Unbeknownst to the unlucky parents, their daughter would never be the same Diem My they’ve ever known after this trip.
“After that visit, for some reason, My kept insisting that we should let her quit school and return to this Tinh That Bong Lai to become a nun. My said that during the conversation with Huyen Tran, she asked if My was willing to stay with her. Le Tung Van (the Abbot) as well as everyone else in this facility would favorably teach her Buddhism, even allowing her to pursue a doctoral degree.” - Diem My’s parents. [5]
The Brainwashed Daughter
The daughter who was once kind-hearted and obedient now turned into an aggressive and neglectful person, but she persisted with her intention of becoming a Buddhist nun despite the words of caution from her friends and family.
On September 7th, 2019, Diem My ran away while her parents were out of town. She didn’t leave empty-handed, though. According to her parents, she had taken the family's Air Blade motorbike and approximately 500 million VND (~$20,000) worth of gold and cash before running off.
Believing Huyen Tran was the one behind the irrational acts of their daughter, the parents came to Tinh That Bong Lai, where they met Le Tung Van. Upon asking about Diem My’s whereabouts, he didn’t give them a clue, yet he encouraged them to let Diem My stay here with Huyen Tran as “they love each other dearly, please don’t separate them.”
Fast forward to October 21st, 2019, it came to their knowledge that Diem My was staying inside Tinh That Bong Lai. The distressed parents came to this place once again, asking for their daughter but to no avail. A few days later, they came back with roughly 50 people, including friends and relatives, badging into Tinh That Bong Lai and causing the riot.
The rescue failed miserably, and Diem My was nowhere to be found. Occasionally, she would appear on social media, stating that she is practicing Buddhism at Vung Tau and pursuing the path she has chosen to become a nun.
The Short Family Reunion
Following the riot that went viral on social media, along with the letter asking for help from Diem My’s family, the authorities decided to investigate further into the incident.
According to a police officer named Thang, he recalled the day when he returned Diem My to her parents:
“I invited Vo Thi Diem My and her parents to the police station. During the meeting, Diem My did not cooperate (as she showed signs of mental instability), and the police officers could not record her statement. Therefore, Diem My was handed over to her biological parents.
On December 19th, 2019, Diem My returned home safely after undergoing a full medical check-up at the hospital. She continued to live with her parents for 6 months before running off again [6].
The family crumbled as Diem My cut all ties with them. However, on November 1st, 2020, Diem My uploaded several videos on her social media, in which she claimed her parents were abusive and her father had sexually assaulted her during her stay with them. Notably, her statements correspond to what Le Tung Van once publicly announced before, saying that the policemen were kidnapping her and forcing her to go home without her consent.
Social media went wild, people started to form split opinions. Some retained their trust in Tinh That Bong Lai and screamed for justice, while others became doubtful about the true motive of Le Tung Van.
“I was imprisoned like an animal, they confiscated my phone, personal documents, and identification card. They guarded me 24/7. I was living in Ho Chi Minh City, but it felt like I was in prison.” - Diem My said in one of her videos. [7]
There haven’t been any updates regarding Diem My’s whereabouts since, it’s very likely that she’s still missing. Her desperate parents promised a reward of 1 billion VND (~$40,000) to anyone who found their daughter.
3. The Father And His Cult
Le Tung Van was born in 1932 in Chau Đoc, An Giang, into a Confucian family with many siblings. His father was a poet named Le Van Tat (1917—1964), who was also best friends with one of Vietnam’s most well-known poets, Han Mac Tu [8].
There were some rumors that before Le Tung Van started engaging in setting up charitable establishments for profits, he participated in an unknown cult when he was young. However, this rumor was never confirmed.
After his Thanh Duc Orphanage & Care Center was shut down in 2007, Le Tung Van traveled to the Southeast and Southwest regions of Vietnam to seek "partners", he wished to set up another Care Center.
In 2014, he luckily met Cao Thi Cuc in Long An province. The woman agreed to transform her house into a place to raise orphans and engage in charity work, Le Tung Van moved in with her. Both of them invested money in repairing, expanding, and converting it into a facility for needy children under the name "Tinh That Bong Lai". The facility operated under the radar to avoid the authorities.
Later, Le Tung Van used his "old formula" from when he ran Thanh Duc Center, but with more caution. He released clips and images on social media platforms to attract both national and international philanthropists. In addition, Le Tung Van gave himself a Buddhist name "Thich Tam Duc".
Van focused on building his image on social media, depicting "Tinh That Bong Lai" as a pagoda for orphans and Buddhists. And so, Tinh That Bong Lai has become a destination for many religious individuals, charitable organizations, and kind-hearted folks who wish to provide financial support for the orphaned children.
While claiming to be Buddhists, the laypeople inside Tinh That Bong Lai never truly practice Buddhism. They were often seen dressed in Buddhist attire and talked about Buddha teachings in videos on their social channels. However, what they taught does not align with the beliefs of Buddha. At some point, they fabricated the entire concept and indirectly slandered the religion they were purportedly following. Sometimes, Tinh That Bong Lai also celebrates Christmas, Le Tung Van and his disciples can be seen dressing as Santa Claus and praising Jesus in many videos. The public obviously found this strange, especially for Buddhists.
After receiving massive backlash for the dramas, Le Tung Van changed the name of the facility to “Thien Am Ben Bo Vu Tru”. Despite the effort, he could no longer keep this place under the radar anymore.
The authorities quickly detected the illegal activities in this facility, along with all the dramas surrounding Diem My and her disappearance, they decided to investigate further into the case rather than just giving warnings as usual.
How the investigation turned out was unexpected. The five novices who went viral in 2018 were not orphans, at all. Their mothers, in fact, lived with them inside Tinh That Bong Lai, and most importantly, they are all biologically related to Le Tung Van [9].
So is the “Master Grandfather” indeed the grandfather? Nope! The novices are his sons and daughters. But things are far more complicated than just that.
End of Part 1.
⭐Next Sunday in “Mystery🔎”
Tinh That Bong Lai: Vietnam's Most Sacrilegious Scandal (Pt. 2)
Preview: What the investigators found has obviously stirred a debate, people were both furious and disgusted at the news.
Turned out, apart from exploiting religion and charity for personal gain, Tinh That Bong Lai was also a stronghold where Le Tung Van reigned over his little kingdom. According to law enforcement, most of the people inside the facility are his wives and children, but what makes the public baffled the most must be the fact that his children are also…his wives.
If you are enjoying Station 101’s articles, feel free to subscribe for more similar posts. Like and share is highly appreciated!
All of the articles in this newsletter are free, but if you would like to show your support, a tiny cup of coffee would help me continue the hard work! Thank you a lot for your time!
Cant wait for part 2. But this is sad.
This is insane. How could you make us wait till Sunday for the next installment?!