Trinh Xuan Thanh received his second sentence today.

Nearly two weeks after the opening of the trial, this morning, Monday (February 5), the Hanoi People's Court sentenced Mr. Trinh Xuan Thanh (former Chairman of the Vietnam Oil and Gas Construction Corporation - PVC) and seven accomplices in the case of embezzlement of assets that occurred at the PetroVietnam Power Real Estate Company (PVP Land).

According to the indictment and the conclusion of the People's Procuracy at the trial, on March 27, 2010, Trans-Pacific Service Joint Stock Company, including five founding shareholders, agreed to sign a deposit contract to transfer all 24 million shares owned at the Nam Dan Plaza high-end office and commercial center complex project on Pham Hung Street to Le Hoa Binh (former chairman of the Board of Directors of 1/5 Construction and Service Joint Stock Company) at a price of nearly VND 21,000/share, equivalent to VND 52 million/m2.

After signing the deposit contract, Le Hoa Binh signed a Share Transfer Contract with each founding shareholder of Xuyen Thai Binh Duong Company. While four shareholders made the transfer at the above price, the remaining shareholder, who also owns the largest number of shares (50.5%), PVP Land, only sold at VND 13,578/share, equivalent to VND 34 million/m2. The total contract value was more than VND 191 billion, a decrease of VND 87 billion compared to the price in the deposit contract and this amount was determined to be PVP Land's loss.

The investigation results determined that the defendants Trinh Xuan Thanh, Dinh Manh Thang (former chairman of the board of directors of Song Da Petroleum Company - younger brother of Mr. Dinh La Thang, former chairman of Vietnam Oil and Gas Group), Thai Kieu Huong (former deputy general director of Vietsan Company), Dao Duy Phong (former chairman of PVP Land), Nguyen Ngoc Sinh (former general director of PVP Land), Dang Sy Hung (head of PVP Land investment department), Huynh Nguyen Quoc Duy (freelance broker) had colluded, directed, and colluded with the defendants Le Hoa Binh, Nguyen Thi Kim Thoa (former chief accountant of 1/5 Company) to sign a contract to transfer shares at a price of 34 million VND per square meter.

Authorities determined that the low-priced transfer was to take the difference and divide it among the defendants, totaling 49 billion VND. Specifically, Mr. Thanh was accused of embezzling 14 billion VND, Mr. Thang: 5 billion; Mr. Phong: 8 billion; Mr. Sinh: 2 billion; Mr. Hung: 20 billion.

The Procuracy determined that all of the more than 12 million shares that PVP Land owns at Trans-Pacific Company belong to the state's capital contribution, because PVC is an enterprise with nearly 89% of the capital of the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN).

The prosecution determined that, at the trial as well as during the investigation, Mr. Thanh did not admit to having agreed to and directed the sale of PVP Land shares at a price lower than their actual value in order to divide and appropriate the difference.

The prosecution agency said that the results of the public investigation at the trial showed that PVC held 14 million shares, owning 28% of PVP Land's charter capital. Meanwhile, Mr. Dao Duy Phong and Nguyen Ngoc Sinh were appointed by Mr. Thanh as representatives of PVC's capital contribution at PVP Land. When PVP Land wanted to transfer shares, it had to report to and receive approval from the PVC Board of Directors. Mr. Thanh therefore had the right to decide whether or not to transfer shares.

According to the People's Procuracy, there is sufficient basis to conclude that defendant Thanh was the one who decided and directed the transfer of more than 12 million shares of PVP Land at Xuyen Thai Binh Duong Company to Le Hoa Binh and was divided 14 billion VND from the price difference.

On January 25, the People's Procuracy proposed a life sentence for Mr. Thanh for the crime of embezzlement of property (according to Article 353 of the 2015 Penal Code).

Similarly, for the remaining seven defendants, the People's Procuracy also concluded that they committed crimes as charged in the indictment and proposed sentences ranging from 8 to 17 years in prison.

VKS: The defendants could not overcome material temptations.

In the indictment, the People's Procuracy determined that the criminal acts of the above defendants were especially dangerous to society; not only did they infringe on an especially large amount of money (87 billion VND) of the state, but they also caused the Nam Dan Plaza project to stagnate and not be able to be implemented from 2010 to present; causing more than 9,000 m2 of project land on Pham Hung Street to not be put into use, causing waste and damage.

The defendants' criminal acts also infringe upon the correctness and integrity of the work and responsibility of state asset management, affect the public's trust in the economic efficiency of state-owned enterprises, and create bad public opinion in society.

The defendants Trinh Xuan Thanh, Dao Duy Phong, Nguyen Ngoc Sinh, and Dinh Manh Thang are leaders of large enterprises, having held many positions, but because of their own personal interests, they could not overcome the temptation of material benefits.

“The criminal acts of the defendants are one of the manifestations of the degradation of public ethics of a number of cadres and civil servants, part of the evil of corruption, reflecting the local interests of individuals and businesses,” the representative of the People's Procuracy stated.

Regarding defendant Thanh, the prosecutor determined that he was a person with a position and authority but had a trick to conceal his criminal acts. During the investigation and at the trial, the defendant was not truly sincere, only partially confessing to his criminal acts.

Lawyer: 14 billion embezzled with 90,000 bills, how can it fit in a suitcase?

However, later in the debate, Mr. Thanh and his five defense lawyers strongly responded to this assertion. Mr. Thanh firmly asserted that he had not committed any crime as concluded by the Procuracy. He presented many grounds to argue that he had no authority or direction to transfer shares at low prices. The defendant also denied embezzling 14 billion VND. Mr. Thanh's lawyers requested an experimental investigation into whether the suitcase could contain 14 billion VND, as alleged by the Procuracy. During the debate, all arguments and requests of Mr. Thanh and his lawyers were not accepted by the Procuracy.

The remaining defendants, although denying the charges, all asked for leniency in their final statements, except for defendant Nguyen Thi Kim Thoa.