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U.S. | 'I comfort death row inmates in their final moments - the execution room is like a house of horrors'

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Reverend Jeff Hood, 40, wants to help condemned inmates 'feel human again' and vows to continue his efforts to befriend murderers in spite of death threats against his family A reverend who has made it his mission to comfort death row inmates in their final days has revealed the '"moral torture" his endeavor entails. Reverend Dr. Jeff Hood, 40, lives with his wife and five children in Little Rock, Arkansas. But away from his normal home life, he can suddenly find himself holding the shoulder of a murderer inside an execution chamber, moments away from the end of their life. 

Vietnam: Ex-leader of Vietnam's Agribank arm gets death for embezzling $3.7mn

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A Vietnam court has sentenced the former general director of Finance Leasing Company No. 2 (ACL II), Vu Quoc Hao, 59, to death for embezzling VND78 billion (nearly $3.7 million) in a corruption case.

Corruption whistleblowers may be rewarded with up to $236,000 in Vietnam

Hao received the sentence at the court hearing for him and 10 other defendants involved in major corruption that took place at ALC II, which is under the State-owned Vietnam Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (Agribank), several years ago, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court said Friday after a 10-day trial.

The jury handed down the same penalty to Pham Minh Tuan, 56, former director of Xuan Viet Co., Ltd.; and Hoang Loc, 49, ex-general director of the Vietnam Verification and Appraisal Joint Stock Company (VIVACO).

Among the remaining 8 defendants - most of whom were from ACL II - 4 got life sentences while the other 4 received sentences from 15 to 20 years in jail.

According to the indictment, in 2003 Hao, as general director of ALC II, ordered the establishment of Long Hai Sand Joint Stock Company, an affiliate of ALC II.

Hao then asked Vu Duc Hoa, 35, the director of the new company, and the company's chief accountant, Nguyen Thi Minh Hue (Hoa and Hue were sentenced to life), to buy an old submarine, the Tinro 2, from the Hai Phong City Customs Department for VND100 million ($4,700).

Hao later colluded with Loc, and Le Phuc Duc, an appraiser at VIVACO, to create documents to falsely value the old ship as high as VND130 billion (US$6.15 million).

He then directed his subordinates to prepare a finance leasing contract dated December 26, 2007, in relation to the old ship, between ALC II and Long Hai Sand Company to make a disbursement of VND130 billion from the former to the latter.

That means Long Hai, under ALC II, bought the old ship for a price that was 1,300 times higher than the real selling price of VND100 million.

Hao later appropriated VND78 billion (nearly $3.7 million) of the amount and used it to buy some 90,000 square meters in Cai Be District, in the southern province of Tien Giang, the court said.

Source: tuoiTre News, Sept. 27, 2014
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