Two former ministers of information and communications were prosecuted.

According to the indictment, the Supreme People's Procuracy prosecuted Mr. Nguyen Bac Son, Truong Minh Tuan, along with former General Director of MobFone Cao Duy Hai, and former Chairman of the Board of Directors of MobiFone Le Nam Tra for the crime ofTake bribes,According to Clause 4, Article 354 of the 2015 Penal Code with a penalty of 20 years, life imprisonment or death penalty.

Accused of being a prostitutebribery,Mr. Pham Nhat Vu (46 years old, former Chairman of AVG Board of Directors) faces a penalty of 12-20 years in prison, according to Clause 4, Article 364 of the 2015 Penal Code.

In crimeViolations of regulations on public investment management cause serious consequences, according to Clause 3, Article 220 of the 2015 Penal Code, the penalty range is 10-20 years in prison, Mr. Son, Tuan, Hai, Tra continue to be prosecuted with 8 defendants Pham Dinh Trong (former Head of the Department of Enterprise Management, Ministry of Information and Communications), Pham Thi Phuong Anh (former Deputy General Director of MobiFone), Ho Tuan (Deputy General Director of MobiFone), Nguyen Dang Nguyen (Deputy General Director of MobiFone in charge), Nguyen Bao Long (Deputy General Director of MobiFone), Nguyen Manh Hung (Deputy General Director of MobiFone) with Phan Thi Hoa Mai (Member of MobiFone Board of Members), Vo Van Manh - Director of AMAX Investment Consulting and Appraisal Company Limited), Hoang Duy Quang (appraiser of AMAX Investment Consulting and Appraisal Company Limited).

According to the indictment, before MobiFone bought the shares, AVG's business was ineffective, with long-term losses and large debts. To increase AVG's value during negotiations with MobiFone, Pham Nhat Vu provided information that a foreign partner was offering to buy the company for 700 million USD and had received a deposit of 10 million USD.

Mr. Vu then repeatedly contacted, discussed, and asked Mr. Son, Tuan, Tra, and Hai to speed up the project to buy AVG shares because he knew he had the right to decide. Mr. Son then "strongly directed" MobiFone to buy AVG shares, requested the project to be implemented in 2015, and directed Chairman Le Nam Tra to sign the purchase contract in December 2015.

"Pham Nhat Vu sold 95% of AVG shares to MobiFone for VND8,898.3 billion, many times higher than AVG's real value, causing extremely serious damage of more than VND6,590 billion (VND6,475 billion lost to the State and VND115 billion in interest from term deposit contracts withdrawn before maturity to pay AVG)," the indictment stated.

The amount of 6,475 billion VND that the State lost, according to the indictment, is also the amount that Mr. Vu and AVG shareholders benefited from in this transaction.

Mr. Vu confessed that he gave Mr. Nguyen Bac Son 3 million USD, Mr. Le Nam Tra 2.5 million USD, Mr. Cao Duy Hai 500,000 USD and Mr. Truong Minh Tuan received 200,000 USD. During the investigation, the defendants all confessed that they knew that they were given money because they had directed and decided on MobiFone to buy AVG shares.

Regarding the fact that Mr. Son only accepted responsibility as the head of the Ministry of Information and Communications; did not acknowledge the role of mastermind and director of MobiFone in implementing the project, the Supreme People's Procuracy said that there was sufficient basis to conclude that Mr. Son directed, decided and promoted the purchase of AVG shares, and was resolute in assigning tasks and directing subordinates to implement. Mr. Son was therefore accused of being the person with the highest responsibility in this case.

Mr. Son stated that after receiving 3 million USD, he gave his daughter Nguyen Thi Thu Huyen 300,000 USD to 400,000 USD each time, telling her "not to save the money and to invest it in whatever she wants". Because Ms. Huyen did not acknowledge her father's statement, the Procuracy did not have enough basis to consider criminal responsibility. However, the Procuracy hopes that Mr. Son's daughter's actions will continue to be clarified through questioning at the trial.

Currently, the Ministry of Public Security's Investigation Police Agency has collected and deposited into the temporary account a total of more than 68 billion VND handed over by the defendants and their families. Of which, Mr. Tra's family paid more than 54 billion VND, Mr. Hai's family paid more than 11 billion VND, Mr. Tuan's family paid 2 billion VND... Mr. Son's house in lane 36C1 Ly Nam De and Mr. Tuan's house in O Cho Dua ward (Dong Da district, Hanoi) are currently being seized. Son's account has a balance of nearly 592 million VND, Mr. Tuan's account has a balance of more than 2.1 billion VND... have been frozen.