Mr. Nguyen Bac Son is the mastermind behind MobiFone's purchase of AVG.

Former Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Bac Son was identified by the Investigation Police Agency (Ministry of Public Security) as the mastermind of a group of 13 criminals.Violating State regulations on management and use of public investment capital causing serious consequencesin the case of public investment violations when MobiFone bought 95% of AVG shares.

The motive for the violations was that Mr. Son wanted to carry out the project before retiring to make a mark during his term as minister (2011-2016) and knew he would receive "material benefits" from AVG. Mr. Son's drastic direction of his subordinates to violate the law so that MobiFone could buy AVG shares at all costs caused the State to lose nearly 6,700 billion VND, the investigation conclusion stated.

According to the investigation results, having known Pham Nhat Vu (Chairman of AVG's Board of Directors) before, when MobiFone requested approval for the investment policy of television services by acquiring a digital television company, Mr. Son introduced the purchase of AVG.

On February 6, 2015, following Mr. Son's request, Mr. Pham Dinh Trong (Director of the Department of Enterprise Management, Ministry of Information and Communications) signed a document agreeing on the investment policy. MobiFone submitted the project to buy 95% of AVG's shares for nearly VND 8,900 billion to the Ministry of Information and Communications.

Because the project belongs to group A with a scale of over 5,000 billion VND, under the Prime Minister's authority to approve the investment policy, Mr. Son signed a document to submit to the Government, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

While waiting for instructions, on October 2, 2015, at Mr. Son's request, the Ministry of Information and Communications organized a meeting between MobiFone and AVG leaders to agree on the price. After the meeting, Mr. Son signed a decision to establish a Project Appraisal Team, assigned to Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan to direct. AVG's value is less than 2,000 billion VND but is valued at more than 8,900 billion VND.

On October 28, 2015, when the Government Office issued a document notifying the Prime Minister's approval of the policy, Mr. Son knew it was not a decision approving the policy but still directed Deputy Minister Tuan to sign and approve MobiFone's television investment project.

Accordingly, MobiFone invested capital outside the enterprise to buy 95% of AVG shares. The project investment capital is 8,900 billion VND, of which the purchase of 95% of AVG shares is nearly 8,898.3 billion VND. The purchase money is taken from equity (30%), and loans (70%).

Following Mr. Son's instructions, on December 25, 2015, Mr. Le Nam Tra (Chairman of MobiFone's Board of Members) signed the transfer contract. From December 28, 2015 to January 15, 2016, MobiFone paid AVG more than VND 8,400 billion.

When MobiFone bought AVG shares, Pham Nhat Vu brought 3 million USD (more than 65 billion VND) to Mr. Son's house, brought 200,000 USD (more than 4.3 billion VND) to the office of Mr. Truong Minh Tuan (at that time, Minister of Information and Communications). Mr. Vu also transferred 2.5 million USD (more than 54.5 billion VND) to Mr. Le Nam Tra and 500,000 USD (nearly 11 billion VND) to Mr. Cao Duy Hai (member of the Board of Directors, former General Director of MobiFone).

The investigation agency believes that Mr. Tuan, Trong, and Tra knew that the project implementation had to comply with legal regulations, but were passive and had to follow Mr. Son's instructions.

The Investigation Police Agency (Ministry of Public Security) proposed to prosecute Mr. Son, Tuan, Tra, and Hai for two crimes.Violating State regulations on management and use of public investment capital causing serious consequences(Article 220, Penal Code 2015) andAccept bribes(Article 354, Penal Code 2015).

Defendant Pham Nhat Vu was proposed to be prosecuted for the crimeBribery, according to Article 364 of the 2015 Penal Code.

The remaining 9 defendants include: Pham Dinh Trong, Pham Thi Phuong Anh (former deputy general director of MobiFone), Phan Thi Hoa Mai (member of MobiFone's Board of Members), Ho Tuan (former deputy general director of MobiFone), Nguyen Dang Nguyen (former deputy general director in charge of MobiFone), Nguyen Bao Long (former deputy general director of MobiFone), Nguyen Manh Hung (former deputy general director of MobiFone), Vo Van Manh (former director of AMAX Investment Consulting and Appraisal Limited Liability Company), Hoang Duy Quang (AMAX employee) were proposed to be prosecuted for the crime ofViolations of regulations on management and use of public investment capital causing serious consequences.