Border guard station commander opens meeting to discuss 'money laundering' plan

On the second working day of the trial of the "protection" case of smuggling 200 million liters of fake gasoline, on July 13, defendant Nguyen Van Hung - Lieutenant Colonel, former Border Guard Station Chief of Truong Long Hoa Port, Tra Vinh Province quickly admitted to receiving a bribe of 6.3 billion VND from the smuggled gasoline kingpin Phan Thanh Huu (Director of Phan Le Hoang Anh Trading Company Limited).

Mr. Hung admitted to introducing Mr. Huu to Mr. Pham Van Tren - Colonel, Commander of the Provincial Border Guard; Lieutenant Colonel Le Van Phuong - Deputy Head of the Provincial Traffic Police Department and Pham Ho Hai - Chief Representative of Can Tho Maritime Port Authority in Duyen Hai to "protect" ships carrying smuggled gasoline.

The total amount of money the four defendants Hung, Tren, Phuong, and Hai received in bribes was determined by the Military Procuracy to be 8 billion VND.

Mr. Pham Van Tren (striped shirt) at the Capital Military Court, July 13.

Defendant Hung stated that after Mr. Huu was arrested, in March 2021, he went to meet Hai and Tren at a coffee shop to discuss how to report. He asked them how to "calculate" the bribes received over the past 15 months and the two men suggested the solution of "making a loan paper", each keeping a copy.

"In fact, the defendant and Hai and Tren did not have any borrowing relationship. They did this to deal with the authorities," Mr. Hung stated.

"Why didn't you tell the truth at first?", the lawyer asked. Mr. Hung replied: "I told you to take care of my family, my wife and children, I would not tell the truth. However, after being detained, thinking and realizing my mistakes, I decided to tell the truth. I guarantee that my testimony will be honest and straightforward."

Defendant Hung's accomplices basically agreed on this testimony. Mr. Hai said that the prosecutor's accusation that Huu's smuggled gasoline ships did not control them when they entered the area under his management was "incorrect".

Accordingly, the Port Authority only checks safety factors (ships and people) but not goods. If there are no signs of violations, the Port Authority only notifies relevant agencies; arrests are only made when there is a decision from the competent authority.

"The defendant has fulfilled all his duties and responsibilities. I stand here feeling humiliated and hurt. I accept the charges against me by the prosecutor," Mr. Hai stated.

The four officers were all prosecuted by the Central Military Procuracy for the crime.Accept bribes, according to Article 354 of the Penal Code. The bribe money received was basically recovered by the defendants during the investigation and prosecution phase.

Witness Phan Thanh Huu at the trial on the morning of July 13.

More than 4 hours of confrontation with the illegal gasoline boss

Petrol smuggler Phan Thanh Huu was summoned by the jury as a witness and continuously answered his lawyer during the trial on the afternoon of July 13, mainly to clarify the method and amount of bribes given to Coast Guard officers and the agreements related to "protection" activities.

For 3 hours, the defense lawyers for defendant Nguyen The Anh - Colonel, former Commander of the Border Guard of Kien Giang province, continuously asked Mr. Huu about the relationship between the two, because in previous questioning sessions, the client continuously cried "injustice" and affirmed that he did not know or receive money from Mr. Huu.

In response, Mr. Huu maintained his statement, saying that he also made a "list" of the monthly bribes to The Anh to have a basis for settling profits with his accomplices in the smuggling group. In this list, Mr. The Anh was kept by Huu under the name "389", because at that time, Mr. The Anh was also the Deputy Chief of Office of the National Steering Committee against smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods (National Steering Committee 389).

According to the agreement, Mr. Huu would pay Mr. The Anh 30,000 USD and 100 million VND per month, but from September 2020, when The Anh transferred to become Commander of the Border Guard of Kien Giang province, the smuggling boss proactively reduced it to 10,000 USD. The reason was that he saw that this officer "had lost his value".

"If it's not related, why do you still have to pay?", the lawyer questioned. Mr. Huu said that Mr. The Anh called him "to threaten him", otherwise "he would have incited someone else to arrest me", Mr. Huu said.

In response to this testimony, defendant The Anh continued to deny, saying he "did not even know Mr. Huu's phone number". Furthermore, with his position, he was not responsible for arresting smugglers but only "summarizing the situation" of smuggling in the assigned area, so there was no reason to receive money or ask his cousin, defendant Nguyen Van An, to help him get bribe money.

Continuously being asked many long and repetitive questions by Mr. The Anh's lawyers, Mr. Huu appeared tense and upset, thinking he was being "forced", and left the podium.

The judge noted that Mr. Huu was "hard of hearing", so lawyers should pay attention to asking short, clear questions, avoiding "inferential nature", and "not repeating what has been asked". The judge also reminded Mr. Huu to respect the lawyers' questions and answer objectively and honestly.

The indictment determined that from September 2019 to February 2021, a number of units of the Border Guard and Coast Guard in the southern provinces committed "particularly serious" violations. Many Border Guard and Coast Guard officers were accused of facilitating the transportation of smuggled gasoline at sea "for a long time, with a frequency of many trips/month without being arrested or prosecuted.

Authorities determined that from March 2020 to February 2021, this line smuggled more than 204 million liters of gasoline, worth nearly 2,900 billion VND. Of which, more than 196 million liters were consumed, earning hundreds of billions of VND, with Huu alone enjoying more than 105 billion.

In connection with the case, in early July, Phan Thanh Huu and 72 others were also prosecuted by the Dong Nai Provincial People's Procuracy for the crime.Smuggle,according to Clause 4, Article 188 of the Penal Code - penalty range from 12 to 20 years in prison.These people are suspended from investigation of their behavior.Briberyby proactively reporting before being detected.

Today, the People's Procuracy announced the indictment and proposed sentences for 14 defendants.

Thanh Lam