Plan to conceal Trinh Xuan Thanh receiving a suitcase of 14 billion VND
Seeing that the embezzlement was at risk of being exposed, the defendants returned the money and discussed declaring that they had not received anything.
At the trial on the afternoon of January 24, in response to the accusation of being thanked with a suitcase full of money (14 billion VND) after agreeing to sell PVP Land's shares in the Nam Dan Plaza project (Pham Hung Street, Hanoi) at a low price, causing a loss of 87 billion VND, former PVC Board Chairman Trinh Xuan Thanh denied the accusation.
Dinh Manh Thang's driver testified in court on the afternoon of January 24.
The court immediately called the driver of the defendant Dinh Manh Thang (Mr. Dinh La Thang's younger brother) into the courtroom for confrontation. This driver stated that in April 2010, he was instructed to deliver a suitcase to Mr. Thanh's driver and "did not know if it contained money or something else."
The court continued to cross-examine Mr. Thanh's driver. His testimony showed that after receiving the suitcase, he called Mr. Thanh to report and received the answer "yes, I know".
Before the testimony of these witnesses, Mr. Thanh explained that on March 28, 2010, Mr. Thang invited him to dinner at a restaurant. Here, Thang raised the issue of agreeing to let PVP Land divest from the Nam Dan Plaza project. When leaving, Mr. Thanh saw the driver hand him a bag, saying it was given by Thang's driver. "The defendant opened it and saw money. He called Thang, who said: I have 5 billion for the boss," Mr. Thanh testified.
Mr. Thanh said he refused to accept it at that time and told Thang to come and get it back. Thang replied that he was on a business trip and returned it to his workplace two days later. When the judge asked if he had brought the money home, Mr. Thanh initially said no, then said yes and said that it might have been too long ago to remember.
When confronted about this statement, Mr. Thang said that Mr. Thanh remembered wrongly because he did not hand over the money at the meeting at the restaurant. However, Mr. Thanh still affirmed that this happened and remembered that while sitting in the car leaving, he scolded the driver: "You are not allowed to receive anything without asking me."
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Defendant Dinh Manh Thang (dark jacket) confronts defendant Trinh Xuan Thanh.Photo: VietnamPlus |
Discuss ways to conceal receiving price difference
Also in this trial, defendant Thai Kieu Huong (former deputy general director of Viet San Investment Joint Stock Company) denied the accusation of participating in the purchase and sale of PVP Land shares. She only admitted to participating in signing the deposit contract and was instructed to ask Mr. Thang to "speak for" Mr. Thanh so that he would agree to let PVP Land divest from the Nam Dan Plaza project.
Afterwards, Mr. Thang said he had arranged a meeting with Mr. Thanh and she came to greet him, bringing investor Huynh Nguyen Quoc Duy to introduce him.
Ms. Huong said that Mr. Duy then asked her to transfer 5 billion VND to Mr. Thang and 14 billion VND to Mr. Thanh. She said she did not know that it was the price difference when selling shares of the Nam Dan Plaza project and that she did not benefit from it.
Meanwhile, the indictment determined that PVP Land wanted to transfer 50.5% of shares in the Nam Dan Plaza project to Company 1/5, which required permission from the parent company, PVC, so Ms. Thai Kieu Huong met Dinh Manh Thang to arrange a meeting with Mr. Thanh. Ms. Huong knew that Mr. Thang's brother, Dinh La Thang, had great influence on Mr. Thanh.
At the end of March 2010, through Mr. Thang's connection, Ms. Huong and her foreign boss met Mr. Thanh at a restaurant on Xuan Dieu Street. Here, Ms. Huong mentioned that Mr. Thanh allowed PVP Land to divest capital and transfer shares...
After this meeting, Mr. Thanh agreed to the transfer plan at a price of 34 million VND/m2. According to the defendants' statements, the difference of 18 million VND/m2 will be transferred to some people because the total price is still 52 million VND/m2 as agreed in the deposit contract dated March 27, 2010.
After the successful transfer, Huong 'thanked' Mr. Thang 5 billion and transferred 14 billion VND given by the share buyer to Mr. Thanh. During this time, the violations at Company 1/5 were investigated, so Ms. Huong demanded the 19 billion VND back. She agreed with some people to legalize the payment of shares to Vietsan Company in order to conceal her and her accomplices' actions.
The court announced the minutes of the confrontation between defendants Thanh and Thang, showing that these two people and Ms. Huong discussed how to deal with the situation and agreed to declare that the 19 billion VND "cold bill" had only stopped at Ms. Huong's place and had not been given to Mr. Thanh or Mr. Thang.
The court continued to announce the testimony of defendant Thang, showing that he was told by Mr. Trinh Xuan Thanh not to reveal the receipt of money, "as if the money was still with Ms. Huong."
In court, Ms. Huong denied these contents, saying that she was mistaken when she stated that she had discussed and agreed on a way to answer in order to conceal the receipt of money from Mr. Thanh and Mr. Thang.
Today, Thursday (January 25), the court continues to work.
