Phan Van Vinh was proposed to be sentenced to 7-7.5 years in prison, Nguyen Van Duong to 11-13 years in prison.
The Procuracy proposed to sentence Mr. Vinh from 7 to 7.5 years in prison for the crime of abusing his position and power while performing official duties.
On the morning of November 21, the People's Court of Phu Tho province announced the end of the questioning session in the trial of the trillion-dong online gambling case. Before the debate, the representative of the People's Procuracy of Phu Tho province was allowed to state his opinion and propose a sentence.
Practicing the right to prosecute, prosecutor Le Xuan Loc stated that the case had 6 types of crimes, of which 3 were very serious, the rest were serious but the consequences for society were especially serious.
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| Defendant Phan Van Vinh was recommended a sentence of 7-7.5 years in prison. |
According to the representative of the Procuracy, in this case, the defendants took advantage of high technology to organize gambling, attracting tens of thousands of accounts as level 1 agents, level 2 agents to participate in the gambling organization line and gambler accounts in the Rikvip/TipClub card game system..., thereby illegally profiting a total of nearly 9,900 billion VND.
The case also set many records such as mobilizing more than 100 investigators not to mention logistics, reconnaissance, and appraisal; working for 12 months but the investigation of the case is still not comprehensive and thorough. The confiscation of criminal assets is at a record level including more than 1,300 billion in cash, and the seizure of over 240 billion VND. Phase 2 of the case is still being investigated and resolved.
Also according to the representative of the Procuracy, the actual amount of money recovered from the crimes of Nguyen Van Duong, Phan Sao Nam and accomplices set a record in economic cases in Vietnam, with the amount recovered being thousands of billions of dong.The Procuracy proposed that the panel of judges should have a form of leniency for defendants who have voluntarily paid 50% or more to remedy the consequences, such as defendant Phan Sao Nam who paid over 90%. Defendant Nguyen Van Duong honestly confessed his crime, but was not honest about the source of the illegal profits, and only partially remedied the consequences, so a more severe punishment should be applied than defendant Phan Sao Nam.
The representative of the People's Procuracy said that, as a result of the questioning in court, 89/92 defendants gave statements consistent with the evidence and charges in the indictment. The remaining 3 defendants have not admitted or partially admitted their crimes, such as defendant Le Thi Lan Thanh who did not admit to the crime of "Organizing gambling", only admitted to the crime of "Illegal trading of invoices". Mr. Phan Van Vinh did not admit to the crime of abusing his position and power while performing official duties, so a strict penalty should be applied. Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hoa did not honestly confess, was evasive, denied the crime, did not admit to the crime of abusing his position and power while performing official duties, so a strict penalty should also be applied to demonstrate the strictness of the law", the representative of the People's Procuracy said.
Individualizing the role and criminal behavior of each defendant, the representative of the Procuracy said:Defendant Nguyen Van Duong illegally profited more than 1,655 billion VND (only recovered more than 245 billion VND and frozen some other assets) from the gambling organization through the illegal Rikvip/Tip.Club card game system..., then used companies to launder money in many forms such as: contributing capital, selling shares, investing in projects, buying real estate... Duong is not subject to aggravating circumstances. Duong honestly confessed his crime, but has not honestly declared the amount of money illegally profited from the gambling organization.
Nguyen Van Duong was proposed to be sentenced to 11-13 years in prison.
The Procuracy proposed to sentence the defendant Duong to 8-9 years in prison for organizing gambling; and 3-4 years in prison for money laundering. The combined sentence for the two crimes is 11-13 years in prison. Regarding the additional penalty, the State will confiscate more than 1,655 billion VND from Duong's crimes.
Phan Sao Nam was proposed to be sentenced to 6-7 years in prison.
Defendant Phan Sao Nam illegally benefited from more than 1,475 billion VND (more than 1,335 billion VND has been recovered and some other assets have been frozen) from organizing gambling through the illegal Rikvip/Tip.Club card game system..., then used companies to launder money in many forms: contributing shares to many companies to do profitable business, buying real estate, depositing savings in banks, investing for other purposes. The Procuracy proposed to sentence defendant Nam to 3-4 years in prison for organizing gambling; 3 years in prison for money laundering. The total penalty for the two crimes is 6-7 years in prison. Regarding the additional penalty, the State announced the confiscation of more than 1,475 billion VND from Nam's crimes to the State budget.
Phan Van Vinh was proposed to be sentenced to 7-7.5 years in prison.
Mr. Phan Van Vinh did not admit to the crime of abusing his position and power while performing official duties, but only admitted to being irresponsible in allowing his subordinates to violate the law. The Procuracy found that Mr. Vinh created conditions for CNC Company to operate the Rikvip card game illegally, allowing Nguyen Van Duong and his accomplices to illegally profit from an exceptionally large amount of money. When the leaders of the Ministry of Public Security sent a document requesting a report on CNC Company's illegal card game operations and related people, Mr. Vinh did not report as prescribed, and even directed his subordinates to send an official dispatch to the Ministry of Information and Communications to request a license for CNC Company to operate card games to cover up CNC Company's violations. Mr. Vinh's criminal behavior was demonstrated through many official dispatches and documents sent to relevant agencies and units related to the pilot electronic game portal operation of CNC Company.
The Procuracy proposed a sentence of 7 to 7 years and 6 months in prison for Mr. Vinh for abusing his position and power while performing official duties. After the Procuracy proposed a sentence for Mr. Vinh, the trial adjourned. Early this afternoon, the Procuracy continued to argue the case and propose sentences for the other defendants.