Behind the case of the district cultural department chief entangled in debt

(Baonghean) Recently, public opinion in Yen Thanh district has been stirred up by the fact that the Head of the District Culture Department, Nguyen Duc Dai, borrowed money from the Yen Thanh District Town People's Credit Fund and was late in paying it back, forcing the fund's representative to sue him in court.

On December 23, 2008, Yen Thanh Town People's Credit Fund lent Mr. Nguyen Duc Dai 350 million VND for a term of 12 months with an interest rate of 1.16%/month, the overdue interest rate is 150% of the loan interest rate; the collateral is a level 2 house attached to the land use right of 170 m2 in block 1, Yen Thanh Town. The heir is Phan Van Lien, in hamlet 6, Trung Thanh commune. On March 23, 2009, Yen Thanh Town People's Credit Fund extended the debt repayment period for Mr. Dai until March 23, 2010.

The deadline was extended for one year, but Mr. Dai still did not pay. To protect his rights, Yen Thanh Town People's Credit Fund filed a lawsuit against Mr. Dai at the District People's Court. On December 22, 2010, the District Court held a mediation at its headquarters so that the parties could reach an agreement on resolving the civil case No. 22/2010/TLST-DS dated October 5, 2010. Mr. Nguyen Duc Dai admitted that he still owed the Credit Fund the principal amount of VND 350,000,000, the interest rate on time was VND 53,993,000, the overdue interest rate was VND 26,997,000, the total principal and interest was VND 430,990,000 and agreed to repay the above amount.

Then, on December 29, 2010, the People's Court of Yen Thanh District issued Decision No. 31/2010/QDST-DS forcing Mr. Dai to pay Yen Thanh Town Credit Fund the amount of 430,990,000 (both principal and interest). However, according to Mr. Dai, after receiving the money from Yen Thanh Town Credit Fund, he immediately handed the money to Mr. Lien in the presence of the fund's Board of Directors. Thus, in fact, the loan to "develop life, buy land" stated in the contract was just an excuse, Yen Thanh Credit Fund knew that Mr. Dai's purpose of borrowing on behalf of Mr. Lien was to develop business...

The evidence is that in the first year, the interest payment according to the contract was made by Mr. Lien. After the debt repayment deadline, Yen Thanh Town People's Credit Fund pressured Mr. Dai, on September 24, 2010, Mr. Lien had a debt repayment commitment: "On December 23, 2008, I asked Mr. Dai to borrow 350 million VND, I hereby commit to pay both principal and interest on October 5, 2010". Then Mr. Lien had another appointment dated October 11, 2010, promising to repay the loan amount, both principal and interest, by November 8, 2010. Then, on November 25, 2010, Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong, Mr. Lien's wife, wrote a commitment: "... up to now, the principal and interest amount of over 420 million VND has not been paid. I write this commitment to pay the principal and interest to the Credit Fund according to regulations. If I cannot pay, my family will mortgage our house and land and take full responsibility before the law."

Thus, the debt of 350 million VND from Mr. Dai was "borrowed" by Mr. Lien. (Up to now, Mr. Dai has paid 70,000,000 VND (December 5, 2011) and 24,953,000 VND (January 3, 2012).

As for the Yen Thanh Town Credit Fund, due to growth targets, it ignored some business processes to lend to Mr. Dai. This was pointed out by the State Bank Branch during a business inspection at the fund. However, legally, because Mr. Dai was named in the credit and loan contract, he must now be the one to pay the fund. It is known that Mr. Nguyen Duc Dai himself was the former Secretary of the District Youth Union, and has held the following positions: Chief of the District People's Committee Office, Deputy of the District Party Committee's Propaganda Department, and is now Head of the Culture Department of the Yen Thanh District People's Committee.

As a party member and a manager in many units, Mr. Dai must be the one who understands better than anyone the procedures and legal regulations on debt repayment. The Yen Thanh Town People's Credit Fund has repeatedly submitted applications to the Yen Thanh District Civil Judgment Enforcement Office to seize and enforce Mr. Dai's real estate as stated in the signed credit contract to enforce the judgment. However, the house and land in Block 1, Yen Thanh Town are jointly owned by Mr. Dai's mother, wife and children and do not have a land use right certificate. The seizure and enforcement of Mr. Dai's real estate cannot be carried out yet.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Ha - Head of the District Party Committee's Organization Committee said: "The Standing Committee of the District Party Committee has called Mr. Dai to clarify his personal responsibility and requested Mr. Dai to pay the debt to the Credit Fund as committed in the contract without imposing any form of discipline on the Party and the government. The Yen Thanh District Civil Judgment Enforcement Office has issued a Notice dated December 2, 2011 "Compulsory seizure and auction of houses and land to ensure enforcement of civil judgments" to the parties, Mr. Dai and his wife, regarding the land plot 22a in Block 1, town of Mr. Dai and his wife. Mr. Le Van Tan - Head of the District Judgment Enforcement Office said: "The agency has developed a plan to submit to the district to enforce the seizure of Mr. Dai's assets, ensuring the strictness of the law, but has not received consensus. Mr. Dai is an incumbent official under the district's management, so if he wants to enforce it, he must have the opinion of the governing body. In addition, Mr. Dai also has an uncooperative attitude, making the Office very confused".

To carry out his responsibility, Mr. Tan asked for the opinion of the Provincial Civil Judgment Enforcement Department and was instructed to clarify whether the land plot 22a in block 1 was eligible for land use rights or not? On that legal basis, then consider the enforcement? Therefore, currently the Judgment Enforcement Department is conducting procedures for the Yen Thanh District Land Use Rights Registration Office to review and confirm.

The Yen Thanh District Party Committee, People's Committee and relevant agencies need to take resolute measures to force Mr. Dai to fulfill his civil obligations as a citizen; at the same time, seriously review the responsibility of the Yen Thanh Town People's Credit Fund when appraising mortgaged assets and lending large sums of money.

Linh - Hoang