This afternoon, May 14, the Court of Appeal upheld the sentence of Mr. Dinh La Thang to 13 years in prison.
On the afternoon of May 14, the appeals court affirmed the first instance verdict, finding that there was no basis to reconsider Mr. Dinh La Thang's charges.
The verdict forthat Mr. Dinh La Thang (former chairman of the Oil and Gas Group - PVN) headed a state economic group but took advantage of his position to commit serious violations of the law. The 13-year prison sentence for the defendant is appropriate and not harsh.
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Mr. Dinh La Thang at the appeal hearing.Photo: VNA |
According to the appeal court, there is evidence that Mr. Thang's appointment of the contractor to the Petroleum Construction Corporation - PVC for the Thai Binh 2 Thermal Power Plant project was against the Prime Minister's instructions.Mr. Thang pressured his subordinates to direct the advance payment of thousands of billions of VND to PVC when there were no payment terms or advance payment instructions stated in the contract.
The testimony of former PVC general director Vu Duc Thuan and many related people shows that the signing of contract 33 was to advance money to help PVC overcome difficulties. All were under the direction of Mr. Thang.
The Court of Appeals found Mr. Thang's appeal to review his conviction "unreasonable". The defendant and his lawyer's arguments had no legal basis.
Former CEO Phung Dinh Thuc's sentence reduced by 3 years
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Mr. Phung Dinh Thuc.Photo: VNA |
Regarding former PVN General Director Phung Dinh Thuc, the court said that he not only lacked responsibility in inspection and supervision but also clearly knew that contract 33 did not have a sufficient legal basis but still directed the signing with Mr. Thang and former PVC Deputy General Director Nguyen Quoc Khanh.
The Court of Appeal considered that the imposition of a prison sentence on Mr. Thuc was necessary, but considered reducing the sentence partly due to the circumstances in which the Thai Binh 2 project was implemented under the close supervision of Mr. Thang, and the work was delegated to Nguyen Quoc Khanh. Furthermore, there were times when Mr. Thang directly directed Mr. Khanh without going through Mr. Thuc.
The Court noted that Mr. Thuc was evaluated by the State as exceptionally excellent with 70 scientific works, author of three patents, an oil and gas expert, academician of the Petroleum Academy, with many health problems... Since his retirement, he has continued his scientific research and teaching.family compensated one billion dong..
The People's Court reduced Mr. Thuc's sentence from 9 years to 6 years in prison.
No sentence reduction to deter embezzlement defendants
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'Gutting' the project to serve PVC bosses on holidays and Tet.Graphics: Ta Lu |
The Court of Appeal did not accept the appeal, maintaining the first instance court's sentence for defendants Ninh Van Quynh (former head of PVN's finance and accounting department), Nguyen Anh Minh (former deputy general director of PVC), Luong Van Hoa (former director of Vung Ang - Quang Trach project management board), Vu Hong Chuong (former head of Thai Binh 2 Thermal Power Project management board), Tran Van Nguyen (former chief accountant of Thai Binh 2 Thermal Power Project management board), and Bui Manh Hien (former chief of PVC office).
The first instance court assessed that defendant Nguyen Quoc Khanh had remedied the most consequences, had many scientific achievements, and his family had contributed to the revolution, but some mitigating circumstances had not been considered by the first instance court, so the appeal court reduced his sentence from 9 years in prison to 7 years.
The court reduced the prison sentences of Vu Duc Thuan and Le Dinh Mau by one year; and Nguyen Manh Tien (former deputy general director of PVC) and Nguyen Ngoc Quy (former vice chairman of PVC) by six months. The appellate court assessed that Tien had no role in the misuse of money at PVC.
Regarding the group of defendants who committed the crime of embezzlement of property, the Court of Appeal assessed that the defendants' actions were particularly serious, with connections and organized activities, requiring the application of aggravating circumstances, but the court of first instance did not apply them because it did not fully assess the seriousness of the situation.
The Court of Appeal therefore upheld the sentence as a deterrent, demonstrating the strictness of the law in the current anti-corruption situation.
Before the opening of the appeal hearing, 15 people in the above case appealed. However, Mr. Trinh Xuan Thanh withdrew all appeals before the opening hearing. Defendant Truong Quoc Dung (former deputy general director of PVC) also withdrew his appeal during his final statement.
The verdict determined that at the end of 2007, PVN was assigned to be the main investor of the Thai Binh 2 Thermal Power Plant Project. Early the following year, the Group assigned its subsidiary, PetroVietnam Power (PVPower), to be the investor. To facilitate the Petroleum Construction Corporation (PVC), on January 22, 2010, Mr. Thang asked the Prime Minister to include Thai Binh 2 Thermal Power Plant in the list of projects that PVN will implement that need to be designated and accepted. The verdict stated that, knowing that PVC did not have sufficient financial capacity and experience, and had not completed the procedures to select a contractor, at the end of 2010, Mr. Thang appointed this subsidiary as the general contractor of the above electricity project. On February 28, 2011, PVC and PVPower received instructions and signed EPC Contract No. 33 despite not having sufficient legal basis. Immediately after that, Trinh Xuan Thanh, then Chairman of PVC's Board of Directors, directed his subordinates to draft an official dispatch to PVPower requesting an advance payment of 72 million USD. Due to lack of capital, on the same day, PVPower Chairman Do Chi Thanh signed an official dispatch to PVN requesting additional charter capital for the first quarter of 2011 for PVPower to have money to advance to PVC. On the grounds that PVPower was not qualified to be the investor, Mr. Dinh La Thang directed Mr. Phung Dinh Thuc and Nguyen Quoc Khanh to complete procedures for PVN to replace PVPower as the project investor and take responsibility for the advance payment to PVC according to the EPC contract. PVN then advanced PVC more than 6.6 million USD and more than 1,300 billion VND, contrary to State regulations. This created conditions for Mr. Trinh Xuan Thanh to misuse more than 1,000 billion VND, causing a loss of 119 billion VND. Regarding the crime of embezzlement of property, the authorities stated that in July 2011, Mr. Nguyen Anh Minh was assigned to be in charge of the Management Board of the Vung Ang - Quang Trach project (in Ha Tinh). Messrs. Trinh Xuan Thanh and Vu Duc Thuan assigned Nguyen Anh Minh to direct Luong Van Hoa to transfer money for their use. From September 28, 2011 to February 23, 2012, Luong Van Hoa and his subordinates legalized the settlement documents of four fake items. Authorities believe that Luong Van Hoa colluded with Le Thi Anh Hoa and Nguyen Thanh Quynh (Director and Chief Accountant of Quynh Hoa LLC) to create and sign four fake contracts hiring this company to construct items to withdraw a total of more than 13 billion VND from the Executive Board. Some of the 10 defendants shared this amount. |
