Mr. Phan Van Vinh asks the people for forgiveness
Asking the lawyer not to continue defending, Mr. Vinh admitted his guilt and made mistakes.
On the afternoon of November 23, the presiding judge announced that defendant Nguyen Thanh Hoa requested to be tried in absentia because he was being treated at Phu Tho General Hospital.
Defendant Nguyen Van Duong (former chairman of CNC) requested to be isolated due to poor health and only attended court to give his final statement. Defendant Do Bich Thuy (cousin of Phan Sao Nam) requested to go to the emergency room.
Investigating the profit motives of two former police generals
Prosecutors confront lawyers.
On the afternoon of November 23, in response to the group of lawyers of former General Director Phan Van Vinh and Director of C50 Nguyen Thanh Hoa, the People's Procuracy cited a number of documents to prove the "backing" of the online gambling ring.
According to the People's Procuracy, the two defendants rented Duong's headquarters at 10 Ho Giam Street of the General Department of Police; invited him to cooperate in organizing and operating an online gambling line. When subordinates discovered it, the two men prevented it from being investigated and handled. This had consequences for millions of players, leading to a case in which 105 people were prosecuted.
At Duong's residence and workplace, the investigation agency collected many original documents showing the cooperation between C50 and CNC. The People's Procuracy said that there was evidence that Duong asked Mr. Hoa "is it right or wrong to organize gambling?", but the former director of C50 said "nothing wrong." Therefore, Mr. Hoa, with his position and authority, created a distorted perception in Duong. Mr. Vinh and Mr. Hoa also damaged the reputation of the Ministry of Public Security and the General Department of Police. But the greater consequence caused by the two men was the loss of people's trust. Signs of bribery and the motive of profit will continue to be clarified in phase two.
The People's Procuracy believes that Mr. Vinh and Hoa committed intentional and direct violations. This is shown through the documents requesting permission and renting the police headquarters so that no one dared to come in to inspect. Although Mr. Vinh and Hoa declared that they were piloting the game portal and paying to get money to build a national defense system, it was as if "no money was invested". The fact that C50 was given 700 million VND by CNC for Tet is a "collective profit motive". In addition, the General Department of Police also received 1.8 billion VND from renting the headquarters at 10 Ho Giam.
"Mr. Hoa could not have condoned the gambling organization without Mr. Vinh's consent. Mr. Vinh could have dealt with Mr. Hoa at any time. Thus, the two of them were in an organized crime relationship. Mr. Vinh was the commander and Mr. Hoa committed the crime," the prosecutor replied to the lawyers.
Mr. Phan Van Vinh asked the lawyer to stop defending.
Mr. Phan Van Vinh said he admitted his mistake.
With a hoarse voice, standing before the witness stand after listening to the prosecutor's response, Mr. Phan Van Vinh said that the prosecution's arguments were correct. However, he asked to explain further because only those involved could understand the nature of the violations. This would save the lawyer's time.
Mr. Vinh said that he immediately noticed the violations at the first interrogation session. When he had access to the entire file, he realized that there was a "loophole" in a document he signed in mid-2016 allowing CNC to deploy the construction of an online game portal model with integrated social networks, allowing the conversion of virtual money to real money.
"I do not blame anyone. I sincerely admit my mistakes and ask for the people's forgiveness," the former general director said, repeatedly apologizing to the defendants and families seriously affected by this case.
After his presentation, he asked his lawyer not to argue or defend. Immediately after that, Mr. Vinh left the courtroom and went to the medical room for health reasons.
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Defendant Phan Van Vinh on the 10th day of trial, November 23.Photo: Giang Huy |
General Department of Police goes to charity with CNC's money
Earlier in the morning, defending Mr. Vinh, three lawyers said that during the interrogation in court, his client wanted to "clarify" so that the authorities and the people could understand when he was indirectly at fault and when he was directly at fault.
"Due to pressure, his presentation was not clear, causing the Procuracy to incorrectly assess his sense of guilt," lawyer Nguyen Thi Huyen Trang stated.
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According to three lawyers, during the interrogation in court, Mr. Vinh stated that he had not received any recommendations from the authorities regarding CNC’s illegal activities. He also did not have any instructions to prevent the authorities from investigating or monitoring. However, he himself felt that he had been negligent in not monitoring and reviewing previous policies.
The lawyers said that Mr. Vinh admitted to using one billion VND of CNC's money in the name of the General Department of Police to do charity work. He also admitted to receiving a shirt and a bottle of liver tonic from Duong. "These were materials that Duong voluntarily gave him, but he should not have received them," the lawyer stated, asking the People's Procuracy to withdraw part of the indictment and apply mitigating circumstances of sincerity and repentance to reduce the sentence to the lowest level.
