Farmers' Association Chairman 'grabbed' billions of dong to escape wanted list and received sentence
Although he was not assigned to supply fertilizer to farmers, Thanh still used his position as chairman of the commune's farmers' association to sign a contract to buy more than 224 tons of fertilizer with a business, "grabbed" more than 1 billion VND and then fled abroad.
On July 23, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened the first instance trial of defendant Nguyen Duc Thanh (born 1963), residing in Nghi Thach commune, Nghi Loc district (Nghe An) for the crime of "Abuse of position and power to appropriate property”.
According to the indictment, in 2011, Nguyen Duc Thanh held the position of Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Nghi Thach Commune. Although he was not assigned the task of supplying fertilizer to farmers for production, Thanh still used the name of the chairman of this association to sign a contract to supply fertilizer with Tuan Duc private enterprise in the form of deferred payment. That is, supplying fertilizer to farmers for seasonal crop production, and only collecting money after harvest to pay back to the supplier.
Nguyen Duc Thanh signed with Tuan Duc enterprise 224.75 tons of fertilizer; including NPK fertilizer and phosphate fertilizer, equivalent to more than 1 billion VND.
After receiving fertilizer from the company, Thanh sold it to individuals and agricultural supply stores in Nghi Loc district. Thanh used the money for personal purposes without returning it to the company.
In 2013, Nguyen Duc Thanh used someone else's documents to flee abroad. On January 21, 2024, when Thanh returned to Vietnam, he was arrested by the police under a wanted warrant.
At the trial, the defendant admitted to the crime. The defendant stated that he committed the crime because he was in debt due to gambling and playing the lottery. Out of fear, the defendant fled to Malaysia. The defendant expressed remorse for his crime and asked the court to consider a lighter sentence.
The panel of judges determined that the defendant's actions had violated the proper operation of state agencies, affected the reputation of the Nghi Thach Commune Farmers' Association, caused damage to others, and caused bad public opinion, so it needed to be dealt with severely.
However, it is also necessary to consider some mitigating circumstances for the defendant such as honestly confessing, repenting, and influencing the family to partially remedy the consequences for the victim (230 million VND).
Considering the case as a whole, the panel sentenced Nguyen Duc Thanh to 13 years in prison. In civil matters, the court ordered the defendant to return the money to the victim.
