Two former Chairmen of Da Nang proposed to have their assets frozen

The Ministry of Public Security's Investigation Police Agency has just sent a document requesting the People's Committee of Da Nang City and related departments and branches to verify and freeze the assets owned by Mr. Tran Van Minh (63 years old, Chairman of Da Nang from 2006-2011) and Mr. Van Huu Chien (64 years old, former Chairman of Da Nang from 2011-2014).

Expanding the investigation into the Phan Van Anh Vu case, on April 17, the Ministry of Public Security prosecuted two former Chairmen of Da Nang. Of these, Mr. Minh was arrested. Mr. Chien was released on bail.

Mr. Minh and Mr. Chien were both prosecuted for the crimes of violating regulations on property management and use.State causing loss and waste (Article 219 of the 2015 Penal Code) and Violating state regulations on land management (Article 229 of the 2015 Penal Code).

Mr. Nguyen Dieu (former Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment); Mr. Tran Van Toan (former Deputy Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Da Nang City) and Mr. Le Canh Duong (former Director of the Investment Promotion and Support Board of Da Nang City) for violating state regulations on land management (Article 229 of the 2015 Penal Code).

Along with the request to temporarily suspend all transactions related to the two former Chairmen of Da Nang, the Investigation Police Agency also requested that Da Nang coordinate to review, provide information, legal documents and temporarily suspend transactions regarding assets owned by Messrs. Dieu, Toan and Duong.

On July 30-31, the Hanoi People's Court is scheduled to open the first-instance trial of the case of "intentionally disclosing state secret documents" against defendant Phan Van Anh Vu and his accomplices. According to Article 25 of the 2015 Criminal Procedure Code, in special cases where state secrets need to be kept, the court can conduct a closed trial but must announce the verdict publicly.

Phan Van Anh Vu, 43 years old, is a famous real estate tycoon in Da Nang. On December 21, 2017, Mr. Vu was prosecuted by the Security Investigation Agency (Ministry of Public Security) for "Disclosing state secret documents", according to Article 263 of the 1999 Penal Code. On January 4, Mr. Vu was brought back to Hanoi after many days of hiding from a wanted warrant in Singapore. Recently, this suspect was additionally prosecuted for "Tax evasion" and "Abusing position and power while performing official duties".