Mr. Nguyen Bac Son was sentenced to life in prison.
Mr. Nguyen Bac Son received a life sentence for accepting bribes, 16 years in prison for violating regulations on public investment management; Mr. Truong Minh Tuan received 14 years in prison.
This morning (December 28), Hanoi People's Court announced the verdict in 3 hours on the violations of 14 defendants in the MobiFone project of investing 8,900 billion VND to buy 95% of AVG shares, causing a loss to the state of nearly 6,600 billion VND.
13 people were present, defendant Pham Nhat Vu (former chairman of AVG) was allowed by the court to be absent because he is being treated in the hospital.
The panel of judges said that at the trial, the defendants all admitted to the crimes as charged in the indictment. Assessing that Mr. Son's family had paid 66 billion VND on behalf of him, and the bribe money had been recovered, it was not necessary to apply the death penalty as proposed by the People's Procuracy, the panel of judges sentenced him to life imprisonment for the crime.Take bribes, 16 years in prison for the crimeViolations of regulations on public investment management cause serious consequencesThe total penalty is life imprisonment.
For the same crime, former Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan received sentences of 8 and 6 years in prison, respectively, for a total sentence of 14 years. Former MobiFone chairman Le Nam Tra received a total of 23 years in prison, and former MobiFone general director Cao Duy Hai received 14 years in prison.
The court canceled the order to seize Mr. Son’s house on Ly Nam De Street and Mr. Tuan’s house on Hao Nam Street, but continued to maintain the order to freeze the two men’s bank accounts with a balance of nearly 600 million VND to ensure execution of the judgment. The defendants listened attentively. Mr. Son stood almost motionless, looking at the panel of judges; Mr. Tuan lowered his head.
Former AVG Chairman Pham Nhat Vu was sentenced to 3 years in prison for committing a crime.Bribery.
The remaining 9 defendants: Pham Dinh Trong (former head of the Department of Enterprise Management, Ministry of Information and Communications) was sentenced to 5 years in prison, Phan Thi Hoa Mai (former member of the Board of Members), Ho Tuan (former deputy general director of MobiFone), Pham Thi Phuong Anh (former deputy general director of MobiFone), Nguyen Manh Hung (former deputy general director of MobiFone), Nguyen Bao Long (former deputy general director of MobiFone) each received 2 years and 6 months in prison.
Nguyen Dang Nguyen (former deputy general director of MobiFone) was sentenced to 2 years in prison, Vo Van Manh (director of AMAX Investment Consulting and Valuation Company Limited) to 3 years and 6 months in prison, and Hoang Duy Quang (director of AMAX's northern branch) to 3 years in prison.
The court announced that the defendants and those with related rights and obligations must pay the illegal profits to the state budget. Specifically, Mr. Son 66.495 billion VND, Mr. Tuan 4.452 billion VND, Mr. Tra 55.592 billion VND, Mr. Hai 11.25 billion VND. The four defendants have paid in full.
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Mr. Son leaves court after receiving a life sentence. Photo:Giang Huy |
The court recognized that the two former Ministers of Information and Communications, Nguyen Bac Son and Truong Minh Tuan, had many mitigating circumstances, such as: many achievements, medals, poor health, and family with revolutionary contributions. Defendant Tuan actively directed the resolution of the case, and the Ministry of Information and Communications proposed a lighter sentence...
The group of defendants are former leaders of MobiFone with good personal records, achievements in work, proactively overcoming consequences, the company asked for a reduction in punishment, actively cooperated with the investigation agency, and their families have contributed to the revolution...
Regarding former AVG chairman Pham Nhat Vu, the verdict stated that the defendant had a good character, repented, and remedied all the damages in the case by returning more than VND8,400 billion and paying an additional VND329 billion. This is a businessman with many charitable activities, his family has contributed to the revolution, and is the pillar of a family with many children...
The judge emphasized three times that Mr. Vu thoroughly remedied the consequences of the case. This, along with the above-mentioned circumstances, will be the basis for the panel to consider "significantly reducing the sentence" for the defendant.
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Mr. Truong Minh Tuan at the court yard on the morning of December 28. Photo:Giang Huy |
The verdict determined that in 2015, Mobifone Telecommunications Corporation (MobiFone) implemented a television service investment project in the form of state capital investment by purchasing 95% of shares of Global Audiovisual Joint Stock Company (AVG) for VND8,900 billion.
Mr. Son realized that the investment policy was under the authority of the Prime Minister, and that the Ministry of Information and Communications did not have the function of appraising and evaluating the purchase price and investment efficiency of the project. However, he still directed Mr. Pham Dinh Trong (Director of Enterprise Management Department) to establish an appraisal team and meet to agree on the purchase price.
When the Prime Minister had just approved the investment policy, the project had not yet been appraised, Mr. Son directed Deputy Minister Truong Minh Tuan to sign the Decision approving the project. He directed MobiFone to sign the agreement and the contract to transfer shares with AVG in 2015. Mr. Son's drastic but illegal instructions caused the state to lose nearly 6,600 billion VND because the real value of AVG was inflated.
To complete the sale of shares as desired and profitable, Mr. Vu bribed Mr. Son with 3 million USD, Mr. Tra with 2.5 million USD, Mr. Hai with 500,000 USD, and Mr. Tuan with 200,000 USD.
According to the Hanoi People's Court, during the investigation, Mr. Son confessed to receiving the bribe of the above amount, equivalent to more than 66.5 billion VND. Many self-declarations, reports, letters, and his wife and children also showed this. In the case file, there is also a diagram in which he described in detail the defendant Vu coming to his house to give money, put the money away, and the developments.
Mr. Son, Tra, Tuan, and Hai all realized that if it were not for their roles, they would not have received money from Vu; they understood that receiving money was illegal. Therefore, the panel of judges concluded that there were sufficient elements to determine that defendant Vu and the four defendants above had committed the act.Briberyand Receiving bribes, as charged by the Hanoi People's Procuracy.
Previously in the indictment, the Hanoi People's Procuracy assessed that the defendants held leadership positions in state agencies but because of greed, they caused especially great damage, affecting the people's trust. This is a "manifestation of public service ethics degradation and corruption".
Mr. Son was proposed to be sentenced to 16-18 years in prison for the crime.Violations of regulations on public investment management cause serious consequences, death penalty byTake bribes; the general penalty is death. On December 27, one day before the People's Court announced the verdict, his family paid an additional 45 billion to make up 66 billion VND, to compensate for the consequences of accepting a bribe of 3 million USD.
Mr. Tuan was recommended 6-7 years in prison for the crime.Violations of regulations on public investment management cause serious consequences, 8-9 years in prisonTake bribes, the total penalty is 14-16 years in prison.
With the same charges as the two former ministers, defendant Le Nam Tra (former Chairman of MobiFone's Board of Members) was proposed to be sentenced to 23-25 years in prison, and Cao Duy Hai (former General Director of MobiFone) to 14-16 years in prison.
Former AVG chairman Pham Nhat Vu was proposed to be sentenced to 3-4 years in prison for the crime.bribe
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Defendant Le Nam Tra met relatives in the court yard. Photo:Giang Huy |
In crimeViolating regulations on public investment management causing serious consequences,Defendant Pham Dinh Trong (former Head of the Department of Enterprise Management, Ministry of Information and Communications) was proposed to be sentenced to 5-6 years in prison, Phan Thi Hoa Mai (member of MobiFone's Board of Members) from 3 years to 3 years and 6 months in prison, Ho Tuan (former deputy general director of MobiFone), Pham Thi Phuong Anh (former deputy general director of MobiFone), Nguyen Manh Hung (former deputy general director of MobiFone) from 2 years and 6 months to 3 years in prison, Nguyen Dang Nguyen (former deputy general director of MobiFone in charge) from 2 years and 2 years and 6 months in prison, Nguyen Bao Long (former deputy general director of MobiFone) from 2 years and 6 months to 3 years in prison.
Vo Van Manh (Director of AMAX Investment Consulting and Appraisal Company Limited) was proposed to be sentenced to 4 to 5 years in prison, Hoang Duy Quang (appraiser of AMAX Investment Consulting and Appraisal Company Limited) to 3 to 4 years in prison..
The trial opened on December 16 and ended today as scheduled.
