Nghe An tycoon cries out for justice after being sentenced to 18 years in prison

Mr. Tri was accused of directing his subordinates to use fraudulent tricks to "eliminate" two shareholders contributing capital to mine exploitation.

On July 18, the High People's Court in Hanoi opened the second appeal hearing to consider the appeal of Mr. Thai Luong Tri (Director of Thai Duong Nghe An Company Limited) and Duong Minh Hai (Deputy Director). The case has lasted nearly 10 years with two first-instance trials and one appeal.

In poor health, Mr. Tri was supported by his relatives.

Previously, Mr. Tri and Mr. Hai were sentenced by the Hanoi People's Court to a total of 18 years and 15 years respectively for two crimes: Forging seals and documents of organizations and agencies; Abusing trust to appropriate property.

According to the first instance verdict, on November 12, 2004, Thai Duong Nghe An Company signed a contract with Thao Oong Kham Mineral Exploitation Company, led by Mr. Oong Kham Sivilay (Lao nationality, director) to explore, exploit and process ores at Huoi Chun mine (Laos), for a term of 30 years.

Mr. Tri directed his staff to draft joint venture contract No. 07 in Vietnamese and bring it to Laos, but Mr. Kham did not sign it, only stamped it on 3 blank sheets of paper.

According to the court of first instance, in June 2006, Mr. Tri used joint venture contract No. 07 with Mr. Kham's forged signature to supplement the dossier sent to the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment to request a certificate of investment abroad.

After that, Mr. Tri was granted a license by the Lao Ministry of Planning and Investment to establish the Lao-Viet Mineral Joint Stock Company. Due to poor health, Mr. Tri assigned Duong Minh Hai (deputy director of Thai Duong Nghe An) to go to Laos to apply for a business license and a private seal for the mineral company.

In early April 2008, Hai gave the seal of Lao-Viet Minerals Company Limited (seal number 1) to his boss Tri to use. However, a month later, the Vientiane capital police (Laos) announced that the seal had been removed and requested that it be returned because it did not have a license to use it.

According to the court, Mr. Tri still used this seal to stamp 38 official documents of the Lao-Vietnamese mineral company to send to Lao and Vietnamese authorities... Tri and Hai's actions were to forge seals and documents of organizations.

Also on the basis of the business contract with Thao Oong Kham Mineral Company, Mr. Tri signed with Thai Duong Vocational Training Service Company (Mr. Doan Van Huan as director) and Thien Phu Company Limited (Ms. Chu Thi Thanh - director, representative) to jointly implement the above project, with a total capital of 1.5 million USD. As of November 12, 2007, Thai Duong Vocational Training Company contributed more than 10 billion VND, Thien Phu contributed more than 11 billion VND.

In the submission sent to the Lao Ministry of Planning and Investment, the companies have re-agreed the ownership and capital contribution ratios: Thao Oong Kham Company (Laos) 35% of shares, Thai Duong Nghe An 37%, Thai Duong Vocational Training 18%, Thien Phu 10%. With this submission, the Ministry has granted a license to establish Lao - Viet Minerals Joint Stock Company and clearly identified the shareholders and share ownership ratios.

After receiving the license, seeing that the difficult period of the project was over, the benefits from exploiting Huoi Chun mine were great, if based on the agreement in the contract, his shares in the Lao-Viet mineral company were almost gone, Tri had the intention of seizing all the shares and assets of Mr. Huan and Ms. Thanh.

Mr. Tri borrowed shares from Mr. Huan and Ms. Thanh to have enough "structure" to be elected as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Lao-Viet Mineral Exploitation Company. After that, the defendant used his power to create internal conflicts (did not make decisions to appoint positions in the company), claimed to be the director to carry out procedures for business registration and seal engraving license.

To completely remove Mr. Huan and Ms. Thanh from their shareholder status, Tri directed Hai to draft a submission to the Lao Ministry of Planning and Investment requesting a license to establish a Lao-Vietnamese Mineral Joint Venture Company. This new company was directed by Tri, holding 65% of the shares, while Mr. Kham held 35% of the shares... Hai's actions were accused of helping Mr. Tri appropriate 42,000 shares of Mr. Huan and Ms. Thanh.

However, Mr. Tri did not succeed in appropriating the money when his actions were exposed. The investigation agency prevented damage from happening to Mr. Huan and Ms. Thanh.

The plaintiff's shares have been restored, but to date the investment project at Huoi Chun mine has been suspended because it has not been granted an Overseas Investment License.

The trial is expected to last three days.

According to VNE