Today Mr. Trinh Xuan Thanh appeared in court in the second case.

The trial opened just one day after Mr. Thanh was sentenced to 14 years in prison for intentionally violating state regulations on economic management causing serious consequences (Article 165 of the 1999 Penal Code) and life in prison for embezzlement (Article 353 of the 2015 Penal Code) in a case involving 22 defendants that occurred at the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PVN) and the Vietnam Oil and Gas Construction Corporation (PVC).

The trial is expected to last until February 6. Judge Dang Thi Thanh Huyen will preside over the trial, and 16 lawyers will defend the defendants. Defendant Trinh Xuan Thanh invited 6 lawyers to defend him. Among the seven accomplices on trial with Mr. Thanh is Mr. Dinh La Thang's younger brother, Dinh Manh Thang (former chairman of the board of directors of Song Da Petroleum Investment and Trading Joint Stock Company).

In the case at PetroVietnam Power Real Estate Joint Stock Company (PVP Land), eight people were accused of using many fraudulent tricks to appropriate 49 billion VND. Mr. Thanh alone received 14 billion VND.

* The embezzlement case occurred at PVPLand

The Supreme People's Procuracy determined that in late 2009 and early 2010, PVN had a policy of transferring all real estate investment and business companies to PVC for management, according to a contact. At the same time, Le Hoa Binh (Chairman of the Board of Directors of Construction and Service Joint Stock Company 1/5) wanted to buy the Nam Dan Plaza project, of which PVP Land held 50.5% of the capital.

Through the brokerage of Huynh Nguyen Quoc Duy, on March 27, 2010, Mr. Binh and five shareholders of the Trans-Pacific Company signed a deposit contract to buy 24 million shares at a price of more than 20,000 VND/share. The total value of the contract was nearly 500 billion VND.

Thai Kieu Huong (Deputy General Director of VietSan Company - a shareholder of Xuyen Thai Binh Duong Company) asked Mr. Dinh Manh Thang to connect with Mr. Thanh to propose that PVP Land divest from the Nam Dan project. Mr. Thanh agreed and directed Dao Duy Phong (Chairman of PVP Land's Board of Directors) to arrange the sale.

On April 11, 2010, Mr. Phong signed a document to send to PVC to approve the plan to sell shares in the Nam Dan project at a price of 34 million VND/m2 and was approved by Mr. Thanh. Five days later, Binh transferred shares to shareholders of the Trans-Pacific Company at a price of 52 million VND/m2... (a difference of 18 million VND/m2).²).

After Mr. Binh paid 50% of the value of the share transfer contract, Thai Kieu Huong asked for 14 billion VND as a "kickback" to Mr. Thanh.

After that, Thai Kieu Huong called Dinh Manh Thang and asked him to transfer 14 billion VND to Mr. Trinh Xuan Thanh. Thai Kieu Huong brought the money to Mr. Thang's wife's house.

The next day, Mr. Thang called Mr. Thanh to inform him that he had received the money. Mr. Thanh told him to transfer it to his personal driver. So, Thang told his driver to deliver 14 billion VND, put the money in a suitcase with wheels, and then gave it to Mr. Thanh's driver.

The Supreme People's Procuracy said that at the investigation agency, the statements of the defendants and related people were consistent with each other about receiving and transferring 14 billion VND. When the incident was discovered, Mr. Thanh returned the money.

At the investigation agency, Mr. Thanh admitted that he held the suitcase of money given by Mr. Thang, but did not admit that it was "price difference" money.

Meanwhile, the defendants Le Hoa Binh, Dao Duy Phong, Nguyen Thi Kim Thoa, Thai Kieu Huong, and Dinh Manh Thang were assessed by the authorities to have confessed honestly, helping the investigation agency clarify the case. Defendant Dao Duy Phong voluntarily returned 10 billion VND, and Huynh Nguyen Quoc Duy's family paid 1.2 billion VND.