Mr. Dinh La Thang was sentenced to 13 years in prison, Trinh Xuan Thanh was sentenced to life in prison.

This morning, Monday (January 22), after 14 days of trial and deliberation, the Hanoi People's Court sentenced Mr. Dinh La Thang and Trinh Xuan Thanh along with 20 accomplices in the case of Intentional Violation and Embezzlement of Property occurring at the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN) and the Vietnam Oil and Gas Construction Corporation (PVC).

The convoy carrying Trinh Xuan Thanh and the defendants to court awaiting sentencing.

After more than two hours of reading the verdict, the panel sentenced defendant Dinh La Thang to 13 years in prison. Defendant Trinh Xuan Thanh was sentenced to 14 years in prison for Intentional Violation and life in prison for Embezzlement. The total sentence is life in prison.

Former PVN General Director Phung Dinh Thuc received a 9-year prison sentence. Two former deputy general directors Nguyen Quoc Khanh and Nguyen Xuan Son received 9-year sentences. Former PVN Chief Accountant Ninh Van Quynh was sentenced to 7 years.

The former PVC general director was sentenced to 22 years in prison. Defendant Vu Hong Chuong was sentenced to 3 years in prison, suspended, Nguyen Manh Tien: 6 years; Tran Van Nguyen: 30 months suspended, Nguyen Ngoc Quy: 6 years; Nguyen Anh Minh: 16 years; Pham Tien Dat: 4 years and 6 months; Luong Van Hoa: 10 years; Bui Manh Hien: 10 years; Nguyen Thanh Quynh: 8 years; Le Dinh Mau: 4 years and 6 months; Le Thi Anh Hoa: 3 years suspended.

Defendant Nguyen Duc Hung was sentenced to immediate release in court (if not imprisoned in another case) with a 3-year suspended sentence, 5-year probation. Defendant Le Xuan Khanh: 3 years suspended sentence, released in court if not imprisoned in another case. Nguyen Ly Hai: 3 years suspended sentence, released in court; Truong Quoc Dung: 17 months in prison, starting from September 2016.

The Hanoi People's Court assessed this as an especially serious economic corruption case. Mr. Dinh La Thang (former Chairman of the Board of Directors of PVN), Trinh Xuan Thanh (former Chairman of the Board of Directors of PVC) and the defendants all held key positions in the state-owned economic group and when assigned to a project of strategic importance to the state, they took advantage of their special positions to commit violations. The defendants' actions delayed progress and caused thousands of billions of VND in capital increase in the Thai Binh 2 Thermal Power Plant project.

Specifically, PVN was assigned to be the focal point for investing in the Thai Binh 2 Thermal Power Plant Project, with a total after-tax investment of more than VND 31,505 billion, equivalent to nearly USD 1.7 billion. Although the procedures for selecting a contractor have not yet been completed, on June 18, 2010, Mr. Dinh La Thang signed a Resolution assigning PVC to carry out the EPC package of the Thai Binh 2 Thermal Power Plant Project in the form of designated bidding.

On October 11, 2011, PVC officially became the Contractor with legal status to perform the EPC General Contract of the Thai Binh 2 Thermal Power Plant Project, but from April 28, 2011 to July 12, 2011, PVN completed procedures to advance PVC more than 6.6 million USD and more than 1,300 billion VND.

After PVC received the advance payment, Mr. Thanh and his subordinates at PVC directed the use of more than VND1,115 billion for other purposes, not for the project. By November 22, 2017, the authorities had only recovered nearly VND1,100 billion. The remaining amount (more than VND119 billion) was determined to be a loss.

Rejecting the lawyers' doubts about the way the damages were calculated, the verdict stated that the damage of 119 billion was calculated accurately and in accordance with regulations, according to the financial appraisal conclusion on the minimum interest on the amount of 1,115 billion VND used for the wrong purpose.

The project was 18 months behind schedule, costing millions of dollars more than the original budget, the machinery was out of warranty but the project was not completed, and caused other damages that could not be calculated during the investigation of the case. "The way the damages were calculated as assessed was favorable to the defendants," the verdict stated.

Mr. Dinh La Thang did not commit any crime other than intentionally violating the law.

Regarding the crime of the defendant Dinh La Thang, the panel of judges said that he confessed and admitted that due to the pressure of progress, he had committed violations in the direction process. Based on the testimony of other defendants, related people, the case file, and the verdict, there was sufficient basis to conclude that Mr. Thang had assigned the bid to PVC, and directed the signing of contract 33 against regulations, despite knowing clearly that the documents and conditions for signing were not complete. Afterwards, despite knowing clearly that contract 33 did not meet the conditions for granting an advance payment, Mr. Thang still directed the advance payment of 10% to PVC.

Other PVC projects that were assigned to contractors also caused losses of thousands of billions of VND, causing loss of trust among the people. Mr. Thang's leadership role "permeated throughout the case" from non-compliance with state economic management regulations, directing contractor designation, signing contracts, and granting advances. Mr. Thang's actions led to violations by a series of other defendants.

As the People's Procuracy and the People's Court determined, Mr. Thang's actions "fully satisfied the charges under Article 165 and not another crime as the defense lawyers argued."

Trinh Xuan Thanh's role is not obscure

The verdict determined that Mr. Thanh admitted to signing contract 33 when the documents were incomplete, which is consistent with the testimony of many other defendants. Mr. Thanh had a decisive role in signing contract 33, so the lawyer's claim that he was "obscure" is unfounded.

The verdict also shows that without Mr. Thanh's direction, "no one at PVC would dare to misuse the money"... While listening to the verdict, defendant Thanh sometimes bowed his head, sometimes tilted his head to look at the corner where his son and father were sitting.

The panel of judges determined that there was sufficient basis to conclude that former PVN General Director Phung Dinh Thuc knew that contract 33 did not meet the conditions but still authorized his subordinates to sign the contract to change the investor, then gave a written approval to advance payment.

Former PVN General Director Nguyen Xuan Son knew that contract 33 did not meet the conditions but still signed to provide advance payment to PVC through urgent dispatches. The verdict cited the statements of other defendants showing that Mr. Thang directed the provision of advance payment.

Proposed sentence by the People's Procuracy for 22 defendants.Graphics: Tien Thanh

In this case, in addition to the crime of intentional wrongdoing, Mr. Thanh and the defendants: Vu Duc Thuan, Nguyen Anh Minh, Luong Van Hoa, Bui Manh Hien, Nguyen Duc Hung, Nguyen Ly Hai, Le Xuan Khanh, Nguyen Thanh Quynh, and Le Thi Anh Hoa were also involved in the embezzlement of 13 billion VND through the creation of false design documents, acceptance, and settlement of four items at the Vung Ang - Quang Trach Thermal Power Plant project (in Ha Tinh).

From those comments, the People's Procuracy proposed a sentence of 14-15 years in prison for Mr. Dinh La Thang on the charge of intentionally violating State regulations on economic management causing serious consequences (Article 165 of the 1999 Penal Code).

Former PVC Board Chairman Trinh Xuan Thanh was proposed to be sentenced to life in prison for both crimes of intentionally violating State regulations on economic management causing serious consequences (Article 165 of the 1999 Penal Code) and Embezzlement of property (Article 278 of the 1999 Penal Code, Article 353 of the 2015 Penal Code).

The remaining 20 defendants were recommended sentences ranging from 30-36 months suspended to 18-19 years in prison.

According to the prosecution agency, due to the application of the principle of benefiting the offender, the embezzlement of Mr. Thanh and 9 others was tried under point a, article 353 of the 2015 Penal Code (effective from January 1, 2018).

After the debate of the lawyers and defendants, the People's Procuracy added some mitigating circumstances for the 6 defendants. In particular, the People's Procuracy noted that defendants Bui Manh Hien (former chief of PVC office), Pham Tien Dat (former chief accountant of PVC) "actively cooperated", and defendant Nguyen Ly Hai (former head of Technical Department, Vung Ang - Quang Trach Project Management Board) had excellent achievements.

Defendants Hien, Dat, Luong Van Hoa (former director of the Vung Ang - Quang Trach Project Management Board), Le Dinh Mau (former deputy head of PVN's accounting and auditing department), Nguyen Ngoc Quy (former vice chairman of PVC's board of directors) have many new details, in addition to actively cooperating with the investigation.

"The People's Court is requested to reduce part of the sentence for the above defendants..., and not require defendants Quy, Mau, Hien, and Dat to jointly compensate for the damage of more than 119 billion VND from their intentional wrongdoings," the prosecution agency stated its opinion.

The 22 defendants, when speaking their final words, all hoped for leniency. Mr. Thang "asked" to be released on bail to "celebrate the last Tet with his family, friends, and relatives, then serve his prison sentence."

"The defendant hopes that the panel of judges will consider his specific situation so that he has enough time to serve his sentences, so that before he passes away, he can be recognized as someone who has completed his duties," he told the court.