Two former directors of the Vietnam Register were proposed to be sentenced to 20-25 years in prison.

On the afternoon of August 6, the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City continued the first-instance trial of the case that occurred at the Vietnam Register and local registration centers and branches with the Ho Chi Minh City People's Procuracy's proposed sentence for the defendants.

Specifically, the People's Procuracy of Ho Chi Minh City proposed that the Trial Council sentence defendant Dang Viet Ha to 20 years in prison for the crime of "receiving bribes".

Tran Ky Hinh was recommended to be sentenced to 18-19 years in prison for "accepting bribes" and 5-6 years in prison for "abusing position and power while performing official duties"; the total sentence the defendant must serve is 23-25 ​​years in prison.

The Procuracy proposed that the Trial Council sentence the defendants Do Trung Hoc (former Head of the River Ship Department of the Vietnam Register, who has absconded) to 20 years in prison; Tran Anh Quan (former acting Head of the Motor Vehicle Inspection Department, Vietnam Register) to 17-18 years in prison for the crime of "Receiving bribes".

Defendant Nguyen Vu Hai (former Deputy Director of the Vietnam Register) was proposed to be sentenced to 4-5 years in prison for the crime of "Abusing position and power while performing official duties."

Defendant Tran Lap Nghia (former Director of Inspection Centers 62-03D-Long An; 71-02D-Ben Tre; 83-02D-Soc Trang) was proposed to be sentenced to 12-13 years in prison for "accepting bribes," 12-13 years in prison for "forgery in work," and 4-5 years in prison for "illegally accessing computer networks, telecommunications networks, or electronic devices of others." In total, defendant Nghia was proposed to serve 28-30 years in prison.

The remaining defendants were proposed by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Procuracy to be sentenced from 1 year suspended to 20 years in prison.

According to the indictment, while performing patrol and control duties, the working group of the Traffic Police Department, Ho Chi Minh City Police discovered two cars 50H-100.20 and 51D-325.89 with signs of having their cargo bed extended beyond standards, so they stopped the vehicles for inspection according to regulations.

The inspection results determined that the measurements of the vehicle's side and body dimensions matched the measurements in the inspection certificate. However, they were different from the measurements according to the vehicle's technical specifications on the database of the Vietnam Register, so they were transferred to the investigating agency for verification and clarification.

From this sign of crime, the Investigation Police Agency, Ho Chi Minh City Police conducted an investigation, determining that the crime was organized throughout from the Vietnam Register to the motor vehicle inspection centers, inland waterway vehicle inspection sub-departments in Ho Chi Minh City and localities across the country. Through the investigation process, the prosecution agency prosecuted 254 defendants on 11 charges.

According to the representative of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Procuracy, this is a corruption, position, and economic case of an especially large scale and causing particularly serious damage in the field of State management of vehicle registration and inland waterway vehicles. The defendants in the case all have expertise and skills, but because of personal motives and insufficient awareness, they committed crimes throughout the entirety from the Director of the Department, to the head of the department and staff, including the defendants who did not benefit much but their actions affected people's lives, living environment, and people's trust, so there should be strict punishment to deter.

The Procuracy determined that during his tenure as Director of the Vietnam Register, defendant Dang Viet Ha had laxed management and lacked supervision, allowing the departments under the Vietnam Register, registration centers, and registration branches across the country to commit systematic violations and negativity for a long time.

When discovered, defendant Ha did not correct or handle the matter, but “for personal gain” continued to propose policies and direct officers of the Motor Vehicle Inspection Department and inspection centers to accept bribes. This amount of money was divided according to the principle of ensuring defendant Ha’s interests were the highest.

The Procuracy determined that Dang Viet Ha must bear criminal responsibility for the total bribe amount of more than 40 billion VND, benefiting nearly 8.8 billion VND and 13,000 USD.

Regarding defendant Tran Ky Hinh (former Director of the Vietnam Register, Dang Viet Ha's predecessor), the Procuracy determined that the defendant, for personal gain, received bribes totaling more than 6.5 billion VND and 23,000 USD from businesses and registration units to ignore violations in granting licenses to operate registration centers and violations in the vehicle inspection process.

In addition, Hinh also took advantage of his position and authority to violate regulations, approving and granting qualifications to unqualified facilities, creating conditions for shipbuilding facilities to operate illegally, affecting the normal operations of inspection branches and the Vietnam Register.

Regarding punishment, the People's Procuracy of Ho Chi Minh City said that there should be a division of responsibilities to strictly handle the leaders, and consider reducing the sentence for defendants who were accomplices and followed instructions.

In addition, the Procuracy also noted that all defendants in the case had many mitigating circumstances such as good character, first-time offender, honest confession, and repentance.

The defendants Dang Viet Ha, Tran Ky Hinh, Nguyen Vu Hai (former Deputy Director of the Vietnam Register)... have many achievements in their work and have overcome the consequences, so we request the Trial Council to acknowledge and consider reducing part of the sentences for the defendants.