74 people in the 200 million liter gasoline smuggling ring appeared in court

On the morning of October 25, Mr. Huu (Director of Phan Le Hoang Anh Trading Co., Ltd.); Dao Ngoc Vien (54 years old, Director of Dai Duong Hai Phong Co., Ltd.) and 72 others were tried by the People's Court of Dong Nai province for the crime ofSmuggling, Briberyaccording to Articles 188 and 354 of the Penal Code. In which, Mr. Ngo Van Thuy was accused of receiving more than 800 million VND from Huu and his accomplices while working as an officer of the Anti-Smuggling Investigation Department, General Department of Customs, to turn a blind eye to this criminal ring.

The case is of a particularly serious nature and is therefore being monitored by the Central Steering Committee for Anti-Corruption and directed to be brought to trial soon. The trial is expected to last 45-60 days.

The court summoned 53 individuals and organizations.have related rights and obligations; 43 witnesses. Nearly 100 lawyers participated in defending the defendants and protecting the rights and interests of the people involved.

The presiding judge of the trial was Judge Nguyen Van Thanh, and the representatives of the People's Procuracy holding the right to prosecute were four official prosecutors. In addition, there were many alternate judges and prosecutors.

Due to the large number of participants in the proceedings, Dong Nai Provincial People's Court did not have a suitable courtroom, so the trial had to be held at Dong Nai Provincial Event Center on Nguyen Ai Quoc Street, Bien Hoa City.

Mr. Phan Thanh Huu (left) at the investigation agency. Photo:Thai Ha

Phan Thanh Huu, Dao Ngoc Vien and Nguyen Huu Tu are famous oil and gas industry tycoons for many years.

According to the indictment, in 2019, Mr. Huu used 4 Nhat Minh 06-09 ships as capital with the director of a company to smuggle gasoline from Singapore to Vietnam. Next, Mr. Huu invited Dao Ngoc Vien to participate because he knew that this person was running a company specializing in buying, selling, and transporting gasoline and had close relationships with individuals in functional agencies. In total, Huu, Vien, and 3 others contributed 53.4 billion VND to trade gasoline, with profits divided according to the ratio of Huu 40%, Vien and the remaining people 60%.

Huu contacted the Singaporean shipper (provided by Vien) to agree on the price and method of receiving the goods. Then, Vien ordered two specialized ships, Pacific Ocean (3,000 tons) and Western Sea (5,000 tons), to anchor in the free waters waiting for "orders". When notified, these ships would enter Singapore's Vopak port to contact the agent to receive the goods. Upon arriving in Vietnam's waters, Huu directed his staff to take the ships Nhat Minh 07, 08, 09 to receive gasoline and transport it to the Hau River area in Binh Minh town, Vinh Long province.

Because the smuggled gasoline was white, Huu's group bought color powder and solvent for the employees to bring onto the ship to mix it into a light yellow color (similar to domestic gasoline). Next, the gasoline was transferred to Tu's ships Huynh Ngan, Huynh Ngan 2, Son Tien, Tay Nam, and transported to the warehouse at Nam Phong port (Long An).

Tu transported gasoline to Kien Giang, Vinh Long, An Giang... to sell to wholesalers or at warehouses for petroleum companies. Many of Tu's henchmen also brokered gasoline sales to a series of businesses in the southern provinces of Do Van Ba, Pham Van Cuc (HCMC), Nguyen Thi Nhu My (Bien Hoa City, Dong Nai), Bui Ngoc Toan, Le Thi Anh Thu, Nguyen Thang Long (Dong Nai).

To deal with the authorities, Huu signed a contract to transport fake gasoline with Hai Minh Nhat Company Limited (established by Huu, hiring Dinh Van Doan as director) and assigned the captains of Nhat Minh ships to present when inspected.

According to the People's Procuracy, from March 2020 to February 2021, Huu and Vien's group transported 48 trips, a total of more than 198 million liters of smuggled gasoline, worth more than 2,596 billion VND. Of which, more than 197 million liters were consumed, earning hundreds of billions of VND, of which Huu alone received more than 156 billion.

Police blockaded a floating petrol storage dock in the middle of the Hau River in early 2021. Photo:Thai Ha

In addition to cooperating with Huu, at the end of 2020, Vien, Nguyen Minh Duc and Pham Hung Cuong (on the run) contributed 19.3 billion VND to buy 2 ships Khanh Hoa 01 and Khanh Hoa 03 to transport smuggled gasoline. Cuong was responsible for contacting the contact in Singapore, while Duc was in charge of selling the gasoline.

After Vien's Pacific Ocean ship returns to Khanh Hoa waters, the gasoline will be transferred to the two ships above and brought to Bac Van Phong port for consumption in Khanh Hoa and the South Central provinces.

When he learned that Phan Thanh Huu's network was destroyed in Vinh Long, Vien continued to use the Khanh Hoa 03 ship to pump gasoline to sell to ringleaders at Bac Van Phong port. By April 2021, Vien knew that the investigation was expanding, so he directed the pumping of the remaining 1.2 million liters of gasoline to the Pacific Ocean ship to pay the owner in Singapore.

From February to April 2021, Vien, Duc and Cuong smuggled 3 trips equivalent to 5.7 million liters, worth nearly 93 billion VND.

According to the prosecution, the total network of Huu, Vien and accomplices smuggled more than 203 million liters of gasoline, worth 2,690 billion VND (more than the police investigation conclusion).

During the investigation, Mr. Huu stated that he only smuggled more than 130 million liters of gasoline, the actual sales were more than 127.7 million liters, and more than 2.5 million liters that had not been consumed were seized. The leader of the smuggling gasoline ring also said that he only made a profit of more than 102 billion VND, not 156 billion as alleged. The remaining smuggled gasoline was more than 67.4 million liters, according to Huu, was transported to Cambodia for consumption by two brokers of the ring, A Hung and A Quy (unknown background).

However, the People's Procuracy believes that, based on data extracted from the phone, bank account statements... there is enough basis to determine that Huu smuggled gasoline and profited the amount of money as accused.

Defendant Le Van Minh (first row, right) at court in July. Photo:Military Court of Region 7

Regarding the protection of this "huge" oil smuggling ring, on July 15, the Military Court of Military Region 7 sentenced defendants Le Van Minh (former Commander of Coast Guard Region 4) to 15 years in prison and Le Xuan Thanh (former Commander of Coast Guard Region 3) to 12 years for the crime of Accepting bribes.

Former Colonel Nguyen The Anh, Commander of the Border Guard of Kien Giang Province, 49 years old, was sentenced to life in prison forTake bribesandOrganizing for others to illegally flee abroad. Eleven other defendants were sentenced from 6 months 21 days to 16 years for 3 groups of crimes.Smuggling, BriberyandFailure to report crime.