Commune chairman jailed for embezzling 900 million VND by female treasurer.

Accused of negligence for allowing the female treasurer to embezzle over 900 million VND of public funds, the commune chairman and chief accountant had to appear in court.

On the morning of September 15th, the People's Court of Ha Tinh Province opened the first-instance trial of Vo Thi Hue (57 years old), Le Sy Binh (54 years old), and Nguyen Huu Hoa (39 years old, all residing in Thuan Thien commune, Can Loc district) on charges of embezzlement and negligence in economic management causing serious consequences.

The three defendants at the trial. Photo: Duc Hung

According to the indictment, from October 2005 to June 2010, while working as a treasurer at the People's Committee of Thuan Thien commune, Hue embezzled over 900 million VND from land auction proceeds. When the matter came to light, in September 2010, Hue fled to the South and worked as a domestic helper. She was arrested five years later.

In December 2015, the Ha Tinh Provincial People's Court brought Ms. Hue to trial, but suspected that some criminals had been overlooked, so they returned the case file for further investigation. Police subsequently arrested Mr. Le Sy Binh (former chairman of the Thuan Thien commune People's Committee) and Mr. Nguyen Huu Hoa (former chief accountant) on charges of negligence leading to Ms. Hue exploiting loopholes to commit the crime.

At today's trial, all defendants admitted their guilt. The court sentenced Ms. Hue to 12 years in prison for embezzlement. Hoa and Binh each received 12 months in prison for negligence in economic management causing serious consequences.

According to VNE