Former Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee approved land allocation to Vu 'Nhom'

On August 27, the case of Mr. Nguyen Huu Tin (62 years old, former Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City) was completed by the Investigation Police Agency of the Ministry of Public Security, transferring the case file to the Supreme People's Procuracy to propose prosecuting 5 defendants for the crime ofViolating regulations on management and use of state assets causing loss and wasteaccording to Clause 3, Article 219 of the 2015 Penal Code.

In addition to Mr. Tin, the other defendants are Dao Anh Kiet (62 years old, former Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Ho Chi Minh City), Truong Van Ut (former Deputy Head of the Land Management Department of the Department of Natural Resources of Ho Chi Minh City), Nguyen Thanh Chuong (former Head of the Urban Department of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee) and Le Van Thanh (former Chief of Office of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee).

The investigation results determined that Nguyen Huu Tin was the Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City in charge of construction and land management (2011-2016). Knowing that the land at 15 Thi Sach (District 1) was a state asset, when the Ministry of Public Security proposed to lease it to Bac Nam 79 Construction Company (directed by Vu "Nhom"), Mr. Tin did not inform the Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City, Head of Steering Committee 09 (Department of Finance) for advice, but arbitrarily wrote a directive "assigning the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to guide the procedures".

The defendants Thanh, Chuong, Kiet, and Ut then advised Vice Chairman Nguyen Huu Tin to sign a decision to lease and sell the house to Vu "Nhom" against regulations, causing a loss of nearly 6.8 billion VND.

According to the investigation agency, the defendants admitted to their crimes, had many achievements in their work, and did not seek personal gain, so they requested the prosecution agency to consider reducing their criminal liability when brought to trial.

Land plot number 15 Thi Sach(District 1) includes 2,700 m2 of house and more than 2,300 m2 of land, which has been leased by Ho Chi Minh City to Giai Phong Film Company Limited under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (VH-TT&DL) for many years. On June 23, 2014, the Ministry of Public Security sent a dispatch requesting the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to let Bac Nam 79 Company re-lease the land "for security purposes", with compensation of nearly 30 billion VND. Four months later, Deputy Minister of Public Security Tran Viet Tan sent a dispatch to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee requesting to lease the land.

When approved, Bac Nam 79 Company paid the budget for compensation for assets and structures on the land with an amount of nearly 7 billion VND, but it was deducted from the land rent payable.

In June 2015, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Huu Tin signed a decision to lease the building to Vu Company for 50 years to build an office, paying annual rent. However, immediately after that, Vu established a project to add additional functions with a height of 83 m including 115 apartments, 72 offices and 88 hotel rooms.

Vu then signed an agreement with a real estate company to invest in construction, after deducting expenses, the profits would be divided in half. On December 8, 2015, the Ministry of Public Security sent a "urgent" document by Deputy Minister Tran Viet Tan to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee requesting support and completion of procedures for Bac Nam 79 Company to put the project into implementation on schedule.

Although Vu Nhom had not yet fulfilled his tax obligations and had not yet been granted a land use right certificate, he and his partner built an 18-storey building. At the end of 2018, the Central Council for Asset Valuation in Criminal Proceedings concluded that this land and house was worth more than VND760 billion. However, while waiting for price approval, violations related to Vu "Nhom" were discovered, so the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee froze this property.

The investigation agency did not determine the damage caused by the conversion of land use purposes but only based on the damage to the State of nearly 7 billion - the amount Vu Nhom illegally deducted from the rent of the above land.

Regarding the violations in transferring this project, Phan Van Anh Vu was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the High People's Court in Hanoi for the crime ofAbuse of position and power while performing official dutiesMr. Tran Viet Tan received 36 months in prison for the crime.Lack of responsibility causes serious consequences.