Received 500 million commitment to win the case, former judge sentenced to 15 years in prison
After receiving 500 million VND to help people win their lawsuits, former judge Vo Dinh Som was arrested by the Investigation Agency of the Supreme People's Procuracy. For accepting bribes, defendant Som was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
The Gia Lai Provincial People's Court has just opened a first-instance criminal trial against defendant Vo Dinh Som (56 years old, residing at 36 Ly Thai To, Dien Hong Ward, Pleiku City; former Judge of the Gia Lai Provincial People's Court). Defendant Som was prosecuted by the Investigation Agency of the Supreme People's Procuracy for the crime ofbribery500 million VND from Mr. PAT to help this person win the lawsuit.
However, at the trial, the defendant Som refuted the indictment and said that he did not receive the bribe, but was tricked by Mr. PAT, who secretly put the money under the table. The defendant asked Mr. PAT to go to his office to send a notice about the trial schedule, but was unaware of it and did not ask Mr. PAT to give him 500 million VND.
Defendant Vo Dinh Som requested the panel of judges to play the audio file recorded on August 4, 2023, the time before he was detained. After listening to the audio file, the defendant said that the recording was unclear, he could not hear his own voice clearly. There was a discrepancy in the recording times of the phone calls, the evidence was unclear; the audio files did not provide sufficient grounds to prosecute him for bribery, and requested the court to declare him innocent.
However, the representative of the Supreme People's Procuracy said that the evidence in the case had been examined many times by the investigation agency, and the recording files had also been concluded by the Institute of Criminal Science of the Ministry of Public Security to have not been edited.
The representative of the People's Procuracy affirmed that the defendant Som's statement that the money was used to contribute capital to raise pigs was baseless because Mr. PAT and the defendant had no plan to raise pigs. The amount of 1.5 billion VND was requested by Mr. Som and he had received 500 million VND in advance.
During the debate, the representative of the Supreme People's Procuracy maintained the prosecution's viewpoint, stating that there was sufficient basis to determine that defendant Vo Dinh Som committed the crime of accepting bribes and proposed a sentence of 15 to 16 years in prison for defendant Som.
The panel of judges determined that the defendant’s criminal acts were extremely serious. The defendant took advantage of his assigned duties and responsibilities to suggest that the person involved pay money to resolve the case as desired. The defendant violated the proper functioning of the State agency, causing negative public opinion.
After deliberation, on the morning of August 26, the Gia Lai Provincial People's Court sentenced defendant Vo Dinh Som, former judge of Gia Lai Provincial People's Court, to 15 years in prison for bribery.
Previously, according to the investigation conclusion of the Supreme People's Procuracy, in March 2022, Mr. PAT (Pleiku City, Gia Lai Province) filed a lawsuit, requesting the Gia Lai Provincial People's Court to force the Bac Bien Ho Protective Forest Management Board to return 15,000 square meters of land that had been encroached upon from his family. At this time, Judge Vo Dinh Som was assigned by the Gia Lai Provincial People's Court to resolve the case.
Know the area 8,311.6m2has granted the Land Use Rights Certificate to the Management Board of Bac Bien Ho Forestry, with 3,585.4m remaining.2Since there was no owner, Vo Dinh Som instructed Mr. T. to change the content of the lawsuit, requesting the court to recognize the 3,585.4 square meters as belonging to Mr. T.'s right to use.
During the process of resolving the case, Mr. Som called Mr. T. to his office at the Gia Lai Provincial People's Court and said: "To win the case, you need money." Due to difficulties, Mr. T. offered to give Mr. Som 10m of land on the road at the disputed location. However, Vo Dinh Som refused to accept the land and asked Mr. T. to give him 2 billion VND. Then he lowered the price to 1.5 billion VND and asked for an advance payment of 500 million VND.
At about 8:30 a.m. on August 4, 2023, Mr. T. brought 10 bundles of 200,000 VND bills and 6 bundles of 500,000 VND bills (totaling 500 million VND) to Gia Lai Provincial People's Court to give to Mr. Som. After handing over the money, before leaving, Mr. T. asked if he was sure, Mr. Som said "I will handle it".
Immediately after Mr. T. left the room, the Supreme People's Procuracy's Investigation Agency raided and executed an emergency detention order and an emergency search warrant for Vo Dinh Som's workplace. There, the authorities discovered and seized 500 million VND that Mr. Som had received from Mr. T.
