Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tai appears in court.

On the morning of September 16th, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tai, 68 years old, was brought to trial by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court on charges of...Violations of regulations on the management and use of state assets causeloss, wasteAccording to Clause 3, Article 219 of the 2015 Penal Code, the penalty range is 10-20 years imprisonment. The trial is expected to last until September 21st.

The accused accomplices are Le Thi Thanh Thuy (41 years old, Chairwoman of Hoa Thang Nam Company and Lavenue Investment JSC); Dao Anh Kiet (former Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment); Nguyen Hoai Nam (former Secretary of District 2); and Truong Van Ut (former Deputy Head of the Land Management Department, Department of Natural Resources and Environment).

Regarding the case, Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy, 61, former Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Housing Management and Business Company, is currently wanted, and her case has been separated for later processing by the investigating agency.

A number of individuals and groups participated in the trial in the following capacities:persons with related rights and obligationsRepresentatives included the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City; the Department of Natural Resources and Environment; the Department of Finance; the Steering Committee for the Arrangement and Handling of State-Owned Land and Properties in Ho Chi Minh City (Steering Committee 09); the Enterprise Management Company; Hoa Thang Nam One-Member Limited Liability Company; Lavenue Investment Joint Stock Company...

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tai in 2010, in charge of investment and construction, and state management. Photo:Vu Mai.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tai has been the Standing Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, in charge of planning and architecture, investment and construction, and housing management (selling state-owned houses, public housing, etc.) since 2008.

The property at 8-12 Le Duan Street covers nearly 5,000 square meters.²The property, with three street frontages facing central streets in District 1, was leased by the Enterprise Management Company to four companies under the Ministry of Industry and Trade for use as their headquarters. In 2007, the Steering Committee 09 (chaired by the Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, Le Hoang Quan) proposed auctioning and transferring the land use rights for a project to build a 5-star hotel and a part of a shopping center. The requirement was that "the investor undertaking the project must have the capacity and experience in the hotel sector."

In 2010, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy proposed, and Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tai approved, that the Enterprise Management Company be the investor of the project, contributing 50%; the remaining 50% would be contributed by four companies under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (each company contributing 12.5%). However, immediately after being allowed to participate in the shareholding, the companies under the Ministry of Industry and Trade transferred their investment rights to a private company to make a profit of 200 billion VND.

Regarding Le Thi Thanh Thuy, the indictment alleges that she exploited her romantic relationship with Mr. Tai to influence the Enterprise Management Company to allow Hoa Thang Nam Company to participate in the project without having to bid for land use rights or tender for the project. Meanwhile, Thuy's company lacked the financial capacity and experience in the field.real estate, restaurants, hotels as required by the city.

The Enterprise Management Company then established Lavenue Investment Joint Stock Company and proposed that Hoa Thang Nam One-Member Limited Liability Company cooperate in investing 30% of the capital (within the 50% capital contribution ratio of the Enterprise Management Company) to jointly implement the project.

Le Thi Thanh Thuy - Chairwoman of Hoa Thang Nam Company, at the time of her arrest. Photo:Ministry of Public Security

On January 19, 2011, Le Thi Thanh Thuy sent a document to the Standing Committee of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, along with Ms. Dao Thi Huong Lan (Director of the Department of Finance, member of Steering Committee 09) and Mr. Dao Anh Kiet (Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment), requesting the application of two forms of land leasing and land allocation.

In June 2011, Mr. Tai signed a decision allowing Lavenue Company to use the entire plot of land to build a high-end hotel, commercial services, and rental apartments, with a land use term of 50 years. The land use form was a state-allocated land use fee at 8 Le Duan Street and an annual lease for the land at 12 Le Duan Street. The total financial obligation of this company to the state budget was over 647 billion VND, including value-added tax and rent at market rates.

The prosecution determined that Mr. Tai's approval of applying both land allocation and land lease methods to the same project, as well as his approval for Lavenue Company to liquidate house number 12 Le Duan without having the remaining value assessed by the relevant authorities, was contrary to regulations. Following Mr. Tai's instructions, defendants Dao Anh Kiet, Nguyen Hoai Nam, and Truong Van Ut, despite knowing that the project dossier was incomplete, unapproved, and unassessed, still proposed and signed decisions that violated the law, leading to the transfer of the "prime" land to Thuy's company.

Mr. Tai's misconduct was deemed "systematic, occurring over a long period, and the main cause of legal violations at the 8-12 Le Duan project." The damages in the case amounted to 2,554 billion VND (value of land use rights), minus the 647 billion VND that Lavender Company had previously paid to the state budget, leaving 1,927 billion VND.

The prime piece of land at 8-12 Le Duan Street remains vacant. (Photo:)Huu Khoa

However, the prosecution also noted that Mr. Tai and the other defendants had several mitigating circumstances, such as: honest confession; achievements during their work, receiving many medals and commendations; and families with contributions to the revolution... Defendant Thuy, in particular, was considered not honest, but was given leniency because her family had contributed to the revolution.

Before his arrest, former Vice Chairman Nguyen Thanh Tai explained that approving the allocation of this "prime" land was to expedite the project's progress in accordance with the city's policy. He admitted to being "hasty and not fully considering the potential negative consequences," but stated that he acted "without any personal gain."

At that time, the Housing Management Company stated that it lacked capital due to allocations to many other projects, and had not anticipated the excessively large estimated total investment capital, making it difficult to meet the requirements of this project. Faced with this new requirement, he calculated and chose the following: with 50% of the capital contributed by four enterprises under the Ministry of Industry and Trade and 20% by the Housing Management Company, the state sector's capital contribution would be 70%.

"Furthermore, in the tourism sector, the State does not advocate for state-owned entities to hold controlling stakes. Therefore, I have approved the proposal of the City's Enterprise Management Company," Mr. Tai said.