Mr. Dinh La Thang was sentenced to an additional 11 years in prison and ordered to pay 200 billion VND in compensation.

Prison sentence of former chairman of Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN)Dinh La Thangfrom the date of arrest, December 8, 2017, Hanoi People's Court stated in the verdict announced on the afternoon of March 15.

Former Chairman of Vietnam Oil and Gas Construction Joint Stock Company (PVC)Trinh Xuan Thanhsentenced to 10 years in prison forViolating regulations on investment in construction works causing serious consequences, 8 years in prison for the crimeAbuse of position and power in performing official duties.Together with the two previous sentences, defendant Thanh received a total sentence of life in prison.

With 9 people in the crime groupViolating regulations on investment in construction works causing serious consequences, Hanoi People's Court sentencedVu Thanh Ha(former General Director of PetroVietnam Petrochemical and Biofuel Joint Stock Company - PVB) 6 years and 6 months in prison;Nguyen Xuan Thuy(former Deputy Head of PVB Project Investment Department),Khuong Anh Tuan(former Deputy Head of PVB Chamber of Commerce),Hoang Dinh Tam(former chief accountant of PVB) each person 30 months in prison;Le Thanh Thai(former head of PVB Business Department) 24 months;Pham Xuan Dieu(former General Director of PVC) 3 years and 6 months;Nguyen Ngoc Dung(former Deputy General Director of PVC) 3 years;Do Van Quang(former Head of PVC Economic Planning Department) 28 months;Tran Thi Binh(former Deputy General Director of Vietnam Oil and Gas Group) 36 months in prison but given a suspended sentence.

AccusedDo Van Hongsentenced to 4 years in prison for the crimeTaking advantage of position and power in performing official duties, according to Clause 3, Article 356. Combining the penalty with the previous sentence, Mr. Hong must serve a total sentence of 17 years in prison.

Defendant Dinh La Thang.Photo: VNA

In civil matters, the panel sentenced 11 defendants for crimes.Violating regulations on investment in construction works causing serious consequencesjointly have to compensate PVB more than 543 billion VND. Of which, Mr. Thang compensated 200 billion VND, Trinh Xuan Thanh more than 143 billion VND, Vu Thanh Ha 100 billion VND. The remaining defendants and two other accomplices (not prosecuted due to serious illness) each compensated 10 billion VND.

The court ordered PVC Kinh Bac to pay PVC more than one billion VND and return the right to use the 3,400 m2 plot of land in Tam Dao to PVC. In addition, defendant Thanh was forced to pay back more than 3 billion VND in benefits to the state.

This is the fourth case in which Mr. Thang has to appear in court, with the total compensation amounting to about 840 billion VND. Defendant Thanh must pay a total of 173 billion VND.

In 2007, Chairman of Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN) Dinh La Thang signed a resolution approving the investment policy of the Ethanol Production Plant in the Northern region. At the end of 2007, PetroVietnam Petrochemical and Biofuel Joint Stock Company (PVB) was established to be the project investor, with an initial charter capital of more than 405 billion VND.

In February 2009, the project was approved for construction in Tam Nong district, Phu Tho province with a total investment of more than 1,300 billion VND, to be implemented in 18 months. Following Mr. Thang's instructions on bidding, PVB did not organize the auction as planned but instead assigned the bidding to PVC's consortium. In March 2013, PVC unilaterally stopped construction of the project.

The verdict determined that PVC had never carried out any Ethanol projects and was in financial difficulty. Mr. Thang, as Chairman of PVN and Head of the Project Steering Committee, chaired many meetings and "resolutely" directed the awarding of contracts to PVC. The illegal acts of Mr. Thang, Thanh and the defendants resulted in a loss of 543 billion VND to PVB.

Mr. Thang was convicted of having a key role in directing PVB to assign the contract to PVC, contrary to the law. Ms. Binh and many other defendants received Mr. Thang's instructions and implemented the decisions.

"The defendants' intentional wrongdoing in selecting an incompetent contractor is the main reason the project was suspended, and to date no items have been completed," the verdict stated.

As of the date of initiating the case, the investor PVB has used more than 1,400 billion VND to implement the project, including the bank loan. The loss of more than 543 billion VND in this case is the total interest that PVB must pay to the bank and the amount PVB still has to pay to the bank.

"In reality, the damage was much greater, but the panel of judges calculated in the most favorable direction for the defendants," the verdict stated.

In the acquisition of 3,400 m2 of land in Tam Dao, the verdict stated that Mr. Thanh established PVC Kinh Bac Company with defendant Hong and then discussed buying 3,400 square meters of land in Tam Dao district, Vinh Phuc with the advance payment for PVC's project implementation.

The former chairman of PVC directed his subordinates at PVC to advance PVC Kinh Bac 25 billion VND in violation of regulations. However, to legalize the advance loan and use the advance money in violation of regulations, defendants Thanh and Hong completed procedures to convert 21 billion VND into PVC's charter capital contribution at PVC Kinh Bac. This was contrary to the provisions of the 2005 Enterprise Law, causing a loss of more than 13 billion VND to PVC.

During the trial, Mr. Thang repeatedly affirmed that he did not influence, direct, or have any involvement in the appointment of the contractor consortium. He said that the investor PVB is an independent unit, not part of PVN, so "there is no reason to follow instructions."

As head of the steering committee for biofuel projects, he stated that his only duty was to supervise progress. The parts related to contractors and bid prices were entirely decided by the PVB contractor and the contractors themselves.

Mr. Thang twice denied the entire indictment, did not admit the violations but said "he worked for the national interest, not for personal gain".

Violations at Phu Tho Ethanol is the third case in which Mr. Thanh has appeared in court. Photo:VNA

Meanwhile, most of the remaining defendants claimed that they could not go against the leaders' wishes. Former PVC chairman Trinh Xuan Thanh stated that he knew from the beginning that the project could not be completed with the bid price of 59 million USD, so he "did not want to accept it". However, under pressure from Mr. Thang, this defendant still had to sign the contract to implement the project at the above price.

Defendant Thanh denied the allegation that the reason the project had to stop was due to the contractor's incompetence. "The mistake at Phu Tho Ethanol was a lack of money," defendant Thanh said.

In arguing with the above defense arguments, the People's Procuracy affirmed that "Mr. Thang's criminal acts were exactly as charged in the indictment." Mr. Thang's defense arguments were baseless and therefore unacceptable. This case involved "group interests."

PVB is a joint stock company outside the group but was established under the policy of PVN based on the resolution directly signed by Mr. Thang. PVB is also the "offspring" of PVC, a member company of PVN. From that, the prosecution agency affirmed that PVB's operations are under the control of PVN, directly under the head - Mr. Thang.

When appointing the bid, Mr. Thang eliminated the criteria on the capacity of the contractor joint venture and required PVC to only accept the price offered by PVB. "Mr. Thang's illegal actions resulted in a loss of 543 billion VND to PVB," the prosecutor stated.