Former Chairman of Hoc Mon District sentenced to 18 years in prison

On the afternoon of August 28, after the second trial of the land corruption case that occurred in Hoc Mon district, Ho Chi Minh City, the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City sentenced defendant Nguyen Van Khoe (born in 1954), former Chairman of the People's Committee of Hoc Mon district, to 18 years in prison for the crimes of "Taking advantage of position and power while performing duties," "Receiving bribes," and "Taking advantage of influence over others with positions and powers for personal gain."

Meanwhile, Tran Thi Ha (born in 1967), former director of Thanh Phat Construction-Trade-Services Limited Liability Company, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the crimes of "bribery" and "fraudulent appropriation of property."

For the same crime, Ha's husband, Ha Van Hoa (born in 1954), was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Combined with the previous 4-year prison sentence, Hoa must serve a total sentence of 24 years in prison.

The remaining defendants, former officials and cadres of Hoc Mon district, Dong Thanh commune, and the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, Cho Lon branch, received sentences ranging from 3 years suspended to 10 years in prison.

According to the Trial Council, although Nguyen Van Khoe had received gifts and money from Tran Thi Ha and Ha Van Hoa worth 1.4 billion VND many times, due to his honest declaration, his many contributions during his work, his family members' contributions to the revolution, and his partial remediation of the consequences, his sentence was reduced below the penalty framework (in court, the People's Procuracy proposed 27-30 years in prison).

In addition, the court also ordered Tran Thi Ha and her husband to compensate the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam - Cho Lon Branch 18 billion VND and 3,000 taels of SJC gold.

In the first trial, Nguyen Van Khoe was sentenced to 26 years in prison, while Ha and his wife were both sentenced to life in prison. Later, the Supreme People's Court of Appeal in Ho Chi Minh City overturned the verdict and handed over the first trial to the court for further investigation./.

According to VNA - LT