The Hanoi People’s Court on March 30 kicked off the first-instance trial of former Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hoang Van Thang and 22 others charged with bribery and violation of bidding and accounting rules that led to serious consequences to the State budget.
Of the 23 defendants, 13 are former officials from the ministry, including Thang (born in 1959). Others include leaders and staff from the Song Da 5 Company, the Irrigation Corporation No. 4, the Hoang Dan Company, and the Sao Vang HG Company.
Among them, three are released on bail while 19 held in custody. Notably, Nguyen Hai Thanh (born in 1964, former deputy director of the ministry's department for construction management and director of Board No. 4) is currently at large and wanted by the police.
At the opening session, defendant Le Quang The (born in 1954, former Chairman of the Irrigation Corporation No. 4) submitted a request for trial in absentia due to health reasons. After considering the opinions of prosecutors and defence lawyers, the trial panel approved the request, deciding to try The and Thanh in absentia.
According to the indictment by the Supreme People’s Procuracy, the case involves multiple large-scale irrigation projects, including Packages No. 13 and 17 of the Krong Pach Thuong Reservoir project in Dak Lak province, Package No. 36 of the Ban Mong Reservoir project in Nghe An province, Package No. 21 of the Ban Lai Reservoir project in Lang Son province, and Package No. 17 of the Canh Tang Reservoir project in Hoa Binh province.
During the bidding, winning and implementation of the above-mentioned projects, Nguyen Van Dan, Director of the Hoang Dan Company, allegedly exploited relationships with several officials of the then Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, including Thang and Tran To Nghi (former acting director of the department for construction management), to seek introductions and influence over leaders of project management and construction boards. He is accused of agreeing to pay percentage-based bribes in exchange for favourable conditions that helped his company win five bidding packages across the four projects, causing losses of over 250 billion VND (nearly 9.49 million USD at the current exchange rate) to the State.
In addition, during the construction process and business operations, Dan also instructed Bui Cao Nguyen, in charge of finance, and Vu Thi Kim Lien, Chief Accountant, to establish seven subsidiary companies and to create and operate two parallel accounting systems, causing losses of nearly 100 billion VND to the State.
As Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Thang is accused of receiving 4.54 billion VND in bribes from Dan. He allegedly instructed Nghi to facilitate the Hoang Dan Company’s winning of Package No. 36 of the Ban Mong Reservoir project, causing State losses of more than 51 billion VND.
The trial is scheduled to last for 10 days./.
