Signs of fraud by land officials of Ngoc Son commune (Thanh Chuong)

"Brokers" of red books under the guise of land administration

Lam Thang Hamlet,Ngoc Son communeis one of the residential areas where households have placed their trust and given money to the land officer Hoang Xuan Thanh in the hope of being granted a Land Use Rights Certificate. Mr. Nguyen Canh Huong is one of such households. Mr. Huong said that in early 2018, he asked a commune land officer named Khanh to measure the newly purchased garden land, and prepare a file to apply for a Land Use Rights Certificate for his son and daughter-in-law (named NCT and KTL). When the measurement was completed, the commune land officer was transferred, and the person who replaced Mr. Khanh was Mr. Hoang Xuan Thanh.

Mr. Nguyen Canh Huong talks with reporters of Nghe An Newspaper. Photo: Nhat Lan

Because he had a little bit of a relationship with Hoang Xuan Thanh on his mother's side, Mr. Huong went to see him. "At that time, Thanh had been back in Ngoc Son commune for about a month. We went to town together to drink, and when we told him about our business, Thanh said he would help," Mr. Huong said. After being suggested, he gave Thanh 20 million VND as "advance money to make connections here and there to quickly finish the job." When handing over the money, because "after all, there was a little bit of a relationship with him," Mr. Huong did not make a receipt but only used his phone to record the conversation between the two.

During the past 4 years, when Thanh did not hand over the Land Use Rights Certificate, Mr. Huong urged him many times, even once firmly saying, "If it were not for the in-law relationship, I would not let this matter rest." But every time, Thanh sympathized and said that the file had been submitted to the District Land Use Rights Registration Office Branch, and would be completed in just a few more months.

“It was difficult to get a red book for my land because I had to change the land use purpose from garden land to residential land. So when Thanh said that, I believed him. I never expected this to happen. I have also filed a complaint with the district police…” – Mr. Nguyen Canh Huong said.

Also in Lam Thang hamlet, Mr. D's family bought land from the cooperative in 1995. At that time, the cooperative sold land to many people, but only a few people could get red books. As for Mr. D, he admitted that he did not know how to do it, so he raised the issue with the land officer. Previously, he had asked the old land officer but he could not do it. When Hoang Xuan Thanh returned to Ngoc Son commune, Mr. D. came to him again. Regarding the relationship between the two parties, according to Mr. D., they agreed to "contract everything out" to Mr. Thanh. He said: "Mr. Thanh said he was not a "broker", but because he had to pay taxes. I don't know how much tax, but if you pay the tax, you will get a receipt, so for now, I will give you an "advance"...". When asked how much money Mr. D. had given Mr. Thanh an "advance"? He replied: "An advance of twenty million...". So when he did not see the red book returned, did he ask and request a refund? “Many times. Every time he replied that in a few months…” – Mr. D. replied.

Lam Thang Hamlet, Ngoc Son Commune is an area where many households have "advanced" money for cadastral officers of Hoang Xuan Thanh Commune to issue Land Use Rights Certificates. Photo: Nhat Lan

During the conversation with Mr. Nguyen Canh Huong and Mr. D., we asked them the same question: “In Lam Thang hamlet, are there many households that “outsource” the work of making red books to Mr. Hoang Xuan Thanh?”. The answers of these two people were the same, that there were many households and the amount of money they gave Mr. Thanh was from 15 to 20 million VND. Mr. D. added: “The day I went to write the application at the commune, someone sitting next to me gave Mr. Thanh an “advance” of up to 80 million VND. And not only people like me, but also commune officials who had just retired also gave Mr. Thanh money to make red books…!”.

Many times there are complaints and petitions.

In Ngoc Son commune, Chairman of the People's Committee of Thai Van An commune is the key leader who knows the most about cadastral officer Hoang Xuan Thanh. Mr. Thai Van An shared that in November 2018, Mr. Hoang Xuan Thanh was transferred by the district from Thanh Long commune to work as a cadastral officer of Ngoc Son commune.

After returning for about a month, he received a petition from two residents, Mr. Anh and Mrs. Tiu. The petition informed that Mr. Hoang Xuan Thanh had taken 10 million VND from them 10 years ago. In response to this incident, the commune had to organize a meeting. In the end, they forced Mr. Thanh to return the money to Mr. Anh and Mrs. Tiu. At that time, these two residents said that the 10 million VND was given to Mr. Thanh at a very valuable time, so they forced him to pay 200 million VND. Only when the commune mediated did they agree to take 40 million VND from Mr. Thanh. Because Mr. Thanh had some problems, the commune educated and reminded him, asking him not to do such things in Ngoc Son commune.

Chairman of Ngoc Son Commune People's Committee, Mr. Thai Van An, talks with Nghe An Newspaper reporter. Photo: Nhat Lan

Some time later, there was another complaint from the people that Mr. Thanh received money from the people to make a red book but failed and did not return the money. Therefore, at the meeting of the People's Committee of the commune, the commune leader asked Mr. Thanh to explain. However, Mr. Thanh affirmed that there was no such incident. Because the people did not have a petition, the commune had no basis for consideration. Around October 2022, a resident named Thin sent a petition reflecting that Mr. Thanh received 14 million VND to make a red book. Therefore, the People's Committee of the commune transferred the petition to the Commune Police for handling. After that, Mr. Thanh was forced to return the 14 million VND. Realizing that Mr. Thanh really had a problem, the People's Committee of the commune warned that if he continued to re-offend, he would be handled according to the provisions of the law.

In early December 2022, when the district implemented the project of transferring and rotating land and accounting officials, Mr. Thanh announced his transfer to another area. To ensure the rights of the people, the commune announced Mr. Thanh's transfer at the voters' meeting, and at the same time announced the whole commune so that any people with any problems could come and resolve them before Mr. Thanh was transferred.

A few days later, 6 households filed a complaint against Mr. Thanh for receiving 75 million VND from them. When the commune received the complaint, it gave Mr. Thanh until December 26, 2022 to return the money to the 6 households who filed the complaint; if he did not return the money after this deadline, he would be held responsible before the law.

On December 17, 2022, Chairman of Ngoc Son Commune People's Committee Thai Van An attended the District People's Council meeting. Here, Ngoc Son Commune was questioned by delegates, so Mr. An informed about the bad phenomenon of cadastral officer Hoang Xuan Thanh. In response to this information, right at the meeting, Chairman of the District People's Committee Trinh Van Nha assigned the District Police Chief to grasp and monitor the situation in Ngoc Son Commune. On December 22, 2022, the District Police and representatives of the Procuracy detained Mr. Hoang Xuan Thanh, searched his office and private home, and sealed related documents.

“Regarding his work in Ngoc Son, Mr. Thanh did not complete his duties for 2 years. The commune has also educated and warned him many times. The Secretary, Chairman, and Chief of Commune Police... have all called him to a private room to discuss and remind him. Therefore, the outcome today for Mr. Thanh is also worthy…” - Chairman of Ngoc Son Commune People's Committee, Mr. Thai Van An shared.

Signs of a scam

Because in the conversation with Mr. Nguyen Canh Huong, he believed that Hoang Xuan Thanh had submitted the application to the branch of the District Land Use Rights Registration Office. Therefore, at the office of Mr. Nguyen Dinh Huong - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Ngoc Son Commune, we connected the phone to the branch of the Thanh Chuong District Land Use Rights Registration Office to verify.

The Office is requested to inform whether it currently has a record of the registration for the issuance of a Land Use Right Certificate for Mr. Nguyen Canh Huong, under the name of the elderly and the disabled residing in Lam Thang hamlet, Ngoc Son commune. The Office Director, Mr. Nguyen Quang Huy, replied: “The Office only keeps records of cases that have been granted a Land Use Right Certificate. For invalid records or records with errors that need to be supplemented, the Office will have a form of instruction and will return the records according to regulations, but will not keep them.”

Office of Ngoc Son commune. Photo: Nhat Lan

Continue to request Director Nguyen Quang Huy to review and check to determine whether the Office has ever received the application for the Certificate of Land Use Rights under the name of NCT and KTL residing in Lam Thang hamlet, Ngoc Son commune? After about 10 minutes, Mr. Nguyen Quang Huy informed: "I have checked, the Office has never received the application of these two people".

We had a conversation with Mr. Nguyen Quang Huy - Director of the Thanh Chuong District Land Use Registration Office on loudspeaker. Listening, Mr. Nguyen Canh Huong admitted that for the past 4 years, he had been deceived by the land officer Hoang Xuan Thanh!