'Tapping' 20 million VND to make law, 3 Dien Chau forest rangers appear in court

(Baonghean.vn)- While performing official duties of inspecting forest products and preparing administrative penalty records for a shipment of 8 bags of wild rattan fruit, 3 leaders and officers of Dien Chau Forest Protection Department took advantage of their positions and powers to violate their official duties.

On the morning of August 22, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened the first instance criminal trial of defendants Nguyen Trong Le (born 1963) - former Chief of Dien Chau Forest Ranger Department, Nguyen Huu Duong (born 1964) - former Deputy Chief of Dien Chau Forest Ranger Department and Ho Xuan Tuc (born 1962) - former legal officer of Dien Chau Forest Ranger Department for the crime of "abusing position and power in performing official duties".

Three defendants appear in court

According to the records, on May 21 and 22, 2015, while performing official duties to inspect forest products and prepare administrative penalty records for a shipment of 8 bags of wild rattan fruit weighing 500kg, worth 33,500,000 VND of Ms. Nguyen Thi Tham (born in 1974, residing in Lam Dong province), Ho Xuan Tuc, Nguyen Trong Le and Nguyen Huu Duong took advantage of their positions and powers to violate their assigned official duties.

When the shipment was seized, the above defendants did not verify and clarify to have a basis for handling, but intentionally falsified the case file, decided to impose an administrative penalty on the wrong subject (decided to fine Nguyen Van Quan as the owner of the goods 15 million VND, while Mr. Quan was only the driver), handled the confiscated evidence in violation of regulations, confiscated 300 kg of May fruit from Nguyen Van Quan, the person transporting the shipment, but applied point g, clause 3, Article 23 of Decree No. 157/2013/ND-CP regulating penalties for acts of buying, selling, storing, processing, and trading forest products.

The subjects returned to Ms. Nguyen Thi Tham the remaining rattan fruits in the shipment of 8 bags of rattan fruits that were seized but did not prepare a case file for handling; established a council to evaluate the administrative violation evidence but did not hold a meeting of the council to evaluate the administrative violation evidence. The subjects received and shared the profit of 20,000,000 VND from the owner of the goods, Ms. Nguyen Thi Tham.

At the trial, the defendants confessed their crimes. The panel of judges determined that the defendants’ actions were serious, affecting the correctness of their duties and causing damage to citizens. However, the defendants had good personal records, confessed honestly, their families had contributed to the revolution, had many achievements during their work, and were commended by all levels... so there was no need to isolate the defendants from social life.

After comprehensively reviewing the case, differentiating the role of each defendant, considering aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the panel sentenced Nguyen Trong Le and Le Xuan Tuc each to 15 months in prison with a suspended sentence, probation for 30 months; Nguyen Huu Duong to 18 months of non-custodial reform; and banned from holding related positions for 5 years after completing the sentence.

The panel of judges also determined that, at the trial, the owner of the shipment could not prove the origin of the rattan fruits, so the act of buying, selling, and transporting these goods was a violation of the law. Therefore, the court rejected the owner of the above shipment’s request for compensation.

Nhu Binh