Disciplinary action against 8 officials under central management

November 25, 2020, in Hanoi,General Secretary, President Nguyen Phu Trongchaired the Standing meeting of the Central Steering Committee on Anti-Corruption (Steering Committee).

The meeting gave opinions on a number of cases and incidents that the Steering Committee has been monitoring and directing since the 17th Session up to now and a number of other important contents.

Prosecute both senior officials and officials related to Party Congress personnel

At the meeting, the Standing Committee of the Steering Committee agreed on a number of contents. Specifically, the Steering Committee assessed that the work of preventing and combating corruption in general, and the work of detecting and handling cases and cases under the supervision and direction of the Steering Committee in particular, continued to receive attention and had positive changes.

Many particularly serious and complicated cases were discovered and strictly handled according to the Steering Committee's plan. The Internal Affairs, Inspection, Supervision, Investigation, Prosecution and Trial agencies actively and urgently coordinated to remove difficulties and obstacles, and thoroughly handled 18 cases and 4 incidents.

Since the 18th meeting of the Steering Committee, 12 cases and 4 incidents have been resolved; 13 cases/53 defendants have been investigated; 11 cases/98 defendants have been indicted; 6 cases/33 defendants have been tried at first instance; and 4 cases/6 defendants have been tried at appeal.

In particular, we have actively and promptly completed the investigation and issued indictments to prosecute 5 key cases that have received special attention from the public; many cases have been expanded for investigation, with more defendants prosecuted, including high-ranking officials under the Central Government's management and officials related to the personnel of Party Congresses at all levels; especially, we have completed the first-instance trials of 4 key cases.

These are the case of “Violating regulations on banking activities and other activities related to banking activities” occurring at Phuong Nam Bank; the case of “Violating regulations on management and use of state assets causing loss and waste; Fraudulent appropriation of assets” occurring at Hai Thanh Company, Navy; the case of “Violating regulations on management and use of state assets causing loss and waste” related to the 8-12 Le Duan project, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City; the case of “Violating regulations on banking activities and other activities related to banking activities” occurring at BIDV Bank and a number of related companies.

In addition, the Central Executive Committee, the Politburo, the Secretariat, and the Central Inspection Commission have disciplined eight officials under the Central Committee's management who committed violations related to cases and incidents under the supervision and direction of the Steering Committee.

The Government Party Committee directs relevant ministries and branches, especially the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Construction, etc., to focus on directing the overcoming of difficulties and obstacles in asset appraisal and valuation, providing documents for investigation, and handling cases and cases under the supervision and direction of the Steering Committee.

The Government Inspectorate completed the inspection and publicized the inspection conclusion of the Ha Bac Fertilizer Plant project and the inspection conclusion of the Thai Binh II Thermal Power Plant. The work of recovering assets that were misappropriated or lost in corruption and economic cases continued to have positive changes.

Specifically, for cases and incidents under the supervision and direction of the Steering Committee, from 2013 to present, civil enforcement agencies at all levels have recovered more than VND 22,659 billion (accounting for 26.7% of the total amount to be enforced). In 2020, the prosecution agencies temporarily detained, seized, blocked accounts, and prevented transactions of assets worth VND 3,851.55 billion, USD 16.858 million, 17,248,621 shares, 51 real estates, 05 cars and many other assets; civil enforcement agencies recovered VND 14,017 billion, equivalent to 61%.

By the end of 2020, 5 cases will be investigated.

Regarding tasks in the coming time, the Standing Committee of the Steering Committee requested Party committees and organizations at all levels to continue to lead and direct the promotion of anti-corruption work; complete the investigation, prosecution, and trial of cases on schedule, and verify and handle corruption and economic cases according to plan.

By the end of 2020, strive to complete the investigation of 5 cases; issue an indictment to prosecute 1 case; conduct first-instance trials of 6 cases; conduct appeal trials of 5 cases and complete the verification and handling of 12 cases in accordance with the Steering Committee's Plan.

In particular, urgently investigate and strictly handle violations of organizations and individuals involved in the cases.

That is the case of "Smuggling; Violating accounting regulations causing serious consequences; Money laundering; Violating bidding regulations causing serious consequences" occurring at Nhat Cuong Company and a number of related units.

The second is the case of "Violating regulations on investment in construction works causing serious consequences" that occurred at the Da Nang-Quang Ngai Expressway Project.

Third is the case of "Violating regulations on management and use of State assets causing loss and waste; Embezzlement of assets" occurring at Saigon Agricultural Corporation (SAGRI).

Fourth is the case of "Violating regulations on investment in construction works causing serious consequences; Violating regulations on management and use of State assets causing loss and waste" occurring at the Phase 2 production expansion project - Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel Company.

The fifth case is the case of “Lack of responsibility causing serious consequences; Trading in counterfeit medicines; Abusing position and power while performing official duties” that occurred at the Department of Drug Administration, Ministry of Health, VN Pharma Company and related agencies and units.

The Steering Committee also requested to urgently complete the first instance trial of 5 key cases that are of special concern to public opinion.

Specifically, the case of "Violating bidding regulations causing serious consequences" occurred at the Hanoi Center for Disease Control under the Hanoi Department of Health, Nhan Thanh Asset Valuation and Auction Joint Stock Company, Vietnam Scientific Materials and Trading Company Limited and related units.

The second is the case of "Violating regulations on land management" occurring at Sabeco Corporation.

The third case is the case of "Violating regulations on investment in construction works causing serious consequences; Abusing position and power while performing official duties" occurring at the PetroVietnam Oil and Biofuel Joint Stock Company (PVB), Vietnam Oil and Gas Construction Corporation.

The fourth case is the case of “Violating regulations on management and use of State assets causing loss and waste; Taking advantage of position and power to influence others for personal gain” occurring at Yen Khanh Group Joint Stock Company and related units.

The fifth case is the case of "Violating regulations in banking activities, other activities related to banking activities, Abuse of trust to appropriate property" occurring at Dong A Commercial Joint Stock Bank.

Also at this meeting, the Standing Committee of the Steering Committee agreed to end the monitoring of 12 cases and 4 incidents under the monitoring and direction of the Steering Committee, as they have been handled in accordance with the provisions of law; and gave opinions on the organization of a national conference to summarize the work of preventing and combating corruption since the establishment of the Steering Committee, especially since the beginning of the 12th Party Congress term up to now.