Former Army Colonel Ut 'Troc' used fake diploma to get promoted

On July 30, at the headquarters of the Capital Military Court, the Military Court of Military Region 7 opened the first instance trial of Mr. Dinh Ngoc He (Ut 'Troc', former army lieutenant colonel, former deputy general director of Thai Son Corporation) for the crime ofAbuse of position and power while performing official dutiesandUsing fake documents of organizations.

Mr. Phung Danh Tham (53 years old, former colonel, former chairman and general director of Thai Son Corporation) was prosecuted for the crime ofLack of responsibility causes serious consequences.

According to the indictment of the Central Military Procuracy, around 2000, Mr. He bought a fake transcript and diploma from the National Economics University.“On-the-job training, Business Administration”for 2.5 million dong

During the interrogation this morning, defendant He stated that he "knew about asking someone to study for him to get a degree" so he applied this method. "Was it right or wrong for the defendant to buy a degree?", the presiding judge asked. Mr. He replied: "At that time, the defendant's perception was still correct."

Mr. He stated that when he transferred to ADCC and his fake diploma was discovered, he had not used it since 2005. However, the presiding judge announced the documents, stating that in 2007, 2010, and 2012, he had authenticated the diploma three times. Faced with this evidence, the defendant said he "did not know" and said that "the prosecution was too harsh."

The Path of a Fake College Degree

The prosecution agency alleges that in October 2003, after being transferred from the Logistics Department (Military Region 7) to Hai Au Enterprise - Vietnam Service Flight Corporation, Mr. He submitted a fake copy of his diploma and transcript. Based on the records, Hai Au Enterprise proposed to appoint Mr. He from a professional soldier to an officer. Although the Vietnam Service Flight Corporation did not agree because he had not attended officer school, he continued to submit a fake diploma in his salary increase request from August 2004 to May 2005.

In August 2005, when he transferred to ADCC Company (Air Defense - Air Force), Mr. He continued to use a fake degree for the company to apply for an officer appointment and declare his background to join the Party. However, ADCC determined that Mr. He's university degree was fake, so they did not carry out the procedures for transferring him to an officer position and admitting him to the Party. Mr. He later also did not provide his official university degree, citing the reason that it was "lost".

In November 2006, when he started working at factory A41 (Air Defense - Air Force), Mr. He removed a copy of his university degree, fake transcript and response letter from the National Economics University from his file.

In January 2008, Mr. He transferred to work at the Vietnam - Russia Tropical Center and two months later was appointed as Deputy Head of the Business Department of Thai Son Company. In March 2011, he became Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of Thai Son Company (Ministry of National Defense). During this time, Mr. He continued to include fake diplomas in his profile to increase his salary, change his military rank to professional soldier, admit party members, and appoint officials.

In 2010, Mr. He received a salary increase and military rank increase from major to lieutenant colonel from the General Staff.In March 2011, he was Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of Thai Son Investment Development Joint Stock Company, Ministry of National Defense.

In February 2012, Mr. He was admitted to the Party after 5 months of procedures. All of his party membership records show that Dinh Ngoc He graduated from the Faculty of Business Administration, National Economics University.

In August 2015, Mr. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel, and nearly a year later was appointed Deputy General Director of Thai Son Corporation.

According to the indictment announced today at the headquarters of the Capital Military Court, the Central Military Procuracy determined that,Mr. He, for personal gain, applied to buy 38 vehicles with his own capital and registered them with military and blue 80A plates. He directed 29 vehicles to be mortgaged, leased, and given to others for use in violation of regulations. Mr. He's actions have caused many people to send letters of complaint, affecting the reputation of the army.

Mr. He also took advantage of the name of a military enterprise to conduct defense business to make false reports to the Provincial People's Committee and functional agencies of Binh Duong Province. He was accused of colluding to falsify a number of contracts, legalizing the origin of poor quality gasoline to avoid being punished, causing a loss of nearly 1.5 billion VND to the budget.

The defendants Dinh Ngoc He, Tran Van Lam, Tran Xuan Son, and Bui Van Tiep were tried under Clause 3, Article 356 of the 2015 Penal Code for the crime ofAbuse of position and power while performing official dutieswith penalties ranging from three years of non-custodial reform to 15 years in prison.

Mr. He's second crime isUsing fake documents of organizations,According to Article 341 of the 2015 Penal Code, the penalty ranges from non-custodial reform to 5 years in prison.

Defendant Phung Danh Tham was chargedLack of responsibility causes serious consequencesAccording to Article 285 of the 1999 Penal Code, the penalty ranges from three years of non-custodial reform to five years of imprisonment.