7 special things at the trial of Mr. Phan Van Vinh

On the morning of November 13, the People's Court of Phu Tho province opened the largest trial in history with 92 defendants in 6 groups of charges. Among the defendants were two people who used to hold high positions: former Director General of the General Department of Police Phan Van Vinh and former Director of the High-Tech Crime Prevention Police Department C50 Nguyen Thanh Hoa.

This online gambling line with revenue of nearly 10,000 billion VND is identified as the largest line in the country.

After 10 days of questioning and three days of debate, the presiding judge announced that the panel of judges would continue deliberating and would announce the verdict on the morning of November 30.

Over the past 13 days, the administration and organization of the trial has had many special features.

Courtroom over 1,000 m²

Chief Justice of Phu Tho Province People's Court Ngo To Dung said this was a complicated case with the largest number of people ever tried in Phu Tho. The court had converted a yard area of ​​about 1,000 square meters into a "vast" courtroom.

Two large screens are placed on both sides, the prosecutor often shows each record when necessary or documents for the defendant and related parties to compare. Many lawyers shared that although they have attended many court sessions, they have never seen a place with such modern investment as here, worthy of being a "model court".

The court has a busy schedule that lasts from Monday to Saturday, but breaks are arranged reasonably. Specifically, mornings are from 7:30 to 11:00 and afternoons are from 14:00 to 17:00.

Using a crane to transfer case files from the Procuracy to the court

Upon receiving the file from the provincial People's Procuracy, the court sent more than 10 secretaries to count the records for two days. Then, to transfer the files onto the truck, the prosecution agency had to hire a crane.

The case files are kept in seven steel cabinets over two meters high, all with security locks. For months before the trial, the judges read the files until late at night.

According to the People's Procuracy, from the investigation stage, although more than 100 police officers and technical forces participated for 12 months, the investigation was still not thorough. The case involved many levels and sectors.

Affirming that there are "no forbidden zones", the People's Procuracy said the case will continue to be investigated in phase two, including clarifying signs of bribery and the motives of profiteering of Mr. Vinh and former director of C50 Nguyen Thanh Hoa.

Nearly 300 people participated in the proceedings

According to the presiding judge's announcement, the trial had 91 defendants present, one person asked to be absent, and 30 defense lawyers. Nearly 200 people participated in the proceedings. 72 people with related rights and obligations were summoned but were absent up to 300%.

To serve the questioning of 92 defendants, the People's Court invited 14 witnesses and three investigators from the Security Investigation Agency (Phu Tho Provincial Police).

Rolling impeachment

The indictment does not follow the usual pattern, but the Procuracy applies a rolling pattern to each defendant. For example: After presenting the indictment against Mr. Phan Van Vinh, the indictment restates the interrogation status of this defendant in court, followed by the prosecution's grounds and arguments regarding the crime. Finally, the Procuracy proposes the charge as well as the level of punishment.

Many lawyers say the above method of indictment is "scientific and easy to follow". When responding, the prosecutor only states the main points in the indictment, which helps the court save time.

The panel of judges also applied a rolling debate format. That is, the defendant debates, then the lawyer presents his defense, and then the representative of the prosecutor debates directly. After one defendant finishes, it is the turn of the next defendant.

No defendant pleaded guilty.

On the morning of November 21, the People's Procuracy announced that 89/91 defendants were present, three defendants, Ms. Le Thi Lan Thanh, Phan Van Vinh (former Lieutenant General, former Director General of the General Department of Police), Nguyen Thanh Hoa (former Director of the Department of High-Tech Crime Prevention - C50). Of these, defendant Vinh did not admit to abusing his position but stated that he only committed indirect crimes and lacked responsibility. Defendant Hoa denied his crime and blamed others.

However, on November 22, all three defendants changed their statements and pleaded guilty. Especially Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hoa, from the time he entered the debate until his final statement, he repeatedly apologized to the Party, the Ministry of Public Security, Nguyen Van Duong and his former subordinates at C50.

Nguyen Van Duong only asked for leniency to reform in peace, not to appeal the sentence.

Defendants in 24 provinces and cities

In May 2017, Huy ran out of money to gamble, so he went online to take over the Facebook account of a woman in Phu Tho province, tricking her friend into transferring 110 scratch cards worth 55 million VND. Huy used these cards to gamble at the Rikvip/Tip.Club game portal and let his friend play with him.

When the fraud was discovered, from Huy's testimony, the investigation agency discovered an online gambling ring disguised as a card game organized by Nguyen Van Duong and Phan Sao Nam. As a result, 92 people had to appear in court on 6 charges.

Accordingly, the network has attracted nearly 43 million accounts to participate in online gambling. The total illegal revenue is up to nearly 10,000 billion VND. Of the 92 defendants on trial, 43 people participated in gambling across 24 provinces and cities, from the plains to the mountains, from urban to rural areas, including intellectuals, workers, farmers, and students.

One of them is defendant Pham Quang Minh (Bac Giang). During the interrogation, Minh stated that he had lost about two billion VND and that from there, many consequences followed, making him now "deeply regretful for not knowing how to cherish his previous life". From a clothing businessman with a stable income, Minh went bankrupt, had to sell his house, borrow money from relatives, and his wife's whereabouts are unknown.

Gamblers, whether from Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Cao Bang, Phu Tho... all have one thing in common: losing money.

Quickly recovered more than 1,300 billion VND

According to the announcement of the prosecution agency, in this case, more than 20 defendants along with a group of former first and second level agents and gamblers had their objects, assets and cash worth more than 1,300 billion VND temporarily seized. Of which, Phan Sao Nam voluntarily paid 1,300 billion out of 1,500 billion VND of illegal profits. Duong only paid more than 240 billion and is said to still be hiding the remaining illegal source of about 1,500 billion VND.

Compared to many other major cases, the amount of money recovered in this case is a "dream number". Mr. Dinh La Thang in the two cases had to pay 630 billion VND in compensation, but he said that only "half of the apartment" was the joint property of the couple that could be seized to enforce the judgment.

Authorities determined that Nguyen Van Duong (Chairman of High-Tech Security Development Investment Company Limited - CNC), Phan Sao Nam (Chairman of VTC Online) and their accomplices used high technology to organize online gambling. This was done with the assistance of Mr. Vinh and Hoa, who are people with positions of authority in state agencies assigned to fight against high-tech crimes.