Nguyen Bac Son was the mastermind behind MobiFone's acquisition of AVG.
Former Minister Nguyen Bac Son is accused of acting out of personal motives and aggressively directing MobiFone to purchase AVG shares, causing losses of nearly 6,700 billion VND.
Former Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Bac Son has been identified by the Police Investigation Agency (Ministry of Public Security) as the mastermind of a group of 13 criminals.Violations of state regulations on the management and use of public investment capital have caused serious consequences.in the case of irregularities in public investment when MobiFone purchased 95% of AVG's shares.
The motive behind the violations stemmed from Mr. Son's desire to complete the project before his retirement to leave his mark during his term as minister (2011-2016) and his belief that he would receive "material benefits" from AVG. Mr. Son's decisive direction to his subordinates to violate legal regulations to ensure MobiFone acquired AVG shares resulted in a loss of nearly 6,700 billion VND for the State, according to the investigation report.
According to the investigation results, having known Pham Nhat Vu (Chairman of the Board of Directors of AVG) beforehand, when MobiFone sought approval for an investment plan to acquire a digital television company for television services, Mr. Son introduced him to the acquisition of AVG.
On February 6, 2015, at Mr. Son's request, Mr. Pham Dinh Trong (Director of the Enterprise Management Department, Ministry of Information and Communications) signed a document approving the investment plan. MobiFone submitted a project to the Ministry of Information and Communications to purchase 95% of AVG's shares for nearly 8,900 billion VND.
Because the project belongs to group A with a scale exceeding 5,000 billion VND, and falls under the authority of the Prime Minister to approve the investment policy, Mr. Son signed the document submitting it to the Government and the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Planning and Investment.
While awaiting further 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 a price. Following this meeting, Mr. Son signed a decision to establish a project appraisal team, headed by Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan. Although AVG's actual value was less than 2 trillion VND, it was appraised at over 8 trillion VND.
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Mr. Nguyen Bac Son, former Minister of Information and Communications. Photo:MIC |
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 instructed Deputy Minister Tuan to sign the approval for MobiFone's television investment project.
Accordingly, MobiFone invested capital outside the company to acquire 95% of AVG's shares. The project's investment capital is 8,900 billion VND, of which the purchase of 95% of AVG's shares accounts for nearly 8,898.3 billion VND. The purchase price was financed from equity capital (30%) and loans (70%).
Following Mr. Son's instructions, on December 25, 2015, Mr. Le Nam Tra (Chairman of the Board of Members of MobiFone) signed the transfer contract. From December 28, 2015 to January 15, 2016, MobiFone paid AVG more than 8,400 billion VND.
After MobiFone acquired AVG shares, Pham Nhat Vu brought $3 million (over 65 billion VND) to Mr. Son's house and $200,000 (over 4.3 billion VND) to the office of Mr. Truong Minh Tuan (then Minister of Information and Communications). Mr. Vu also transferred $2.5 million (over 54.5 billion VND) to Mr. Le Nam Tra and $500,000 (nearly 11 billion VND) to Mr. Cao Duy Hai (member of the Board of Directors, former General Director of MobiFone).
The investigating agency believes that Tuan, Trong, and Tra knew that the project had to comply with legal regulations but were passive and had to act on Son's instructions.
The Investigative Police Agency (Ministry of Public Security) has recommended prosecuting Son, Tuan, Tra, and Hai for two crimes.Violations of state regulations on the management and use of public investment capital have caused serious consequences.(Article 220, Penal Code 2015) andAccepting bribes(Article 354, Penal Code 2015).
The defendant Pham Nhat Vu has been recommended for prosecution for the crime of...Giving bribes, according to Article 364 of the 2015 Penal Code.
The remaining nine defendants, including Pham Dinh Trong, Pham Thi Phuong Anh (former deputy general director of MobiFone), Phan Thi Hoa Mai (member of the MobiFone Board of Directors), 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 Company Limited), and Hoang Duy Quang (AMAX employee), are recommended for prosecution for the crime of...Violations of regulations on the management and use of public investment funds have serious consequences..
