Four young engineers sentenced to prison for embezzling funds from the Nhat Tan Bridge project.

The defendants jointly stole 43 steel sheet piles used for landslide prevention at the foundation pit of the Nhat Tan Bridge and sold them for 320 million VND.

On July 15th, the Hanoi People's Court began the trial of four engineers and one driver in the case of embezzlement from the Nhat Tan Bridge construction project. The five defendants, including the four engineers: Nguyen Huy Binh (28 years old), Pham Van Huy (29 years old), Do Thanh Phuc (28 years old), and Doan Quang Hung (26 years old), and the driver Nguyen Huy Dinh (33 years old), were prosecuted for the crime of "Abusing trust to appropriate property." The defendants allegedly stole 43 steel sheet piles used for landslide prevention at the Nhat Tan Bridge foundation pit and sold them for 320 million VND.

According to the indictment, Binh, Huy, Phuc, and Hung were all engineers at Sumitomo Mitsui (Japan). Hung worked on package 2 of the Ring Road 3 project, while the other three worked on package 1 of the Nhat Tan Bridge project.

The defendants are young engineers (photo: Nguyen Quyet/Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper)

During the construction of the Nhat Tan Bridge, Sumitomo Mitsui Construction and Trading Company Limited hired Viet Xay Construction and Trading Company Limited to transport steel sheet piles used to prevent landslides around the bridge pier foundation pits. Viet Xay Company assigned Dinh to drive a crane truck to transport the steel sheet piles as per the contract.

In August 2012, at the Nhat Tan Bridge project, Phuc and Huy, while counting the number of steel sheet piles, found 5 piles in excess and conspired to sell them illegally. Knowing that Binh was assigned the task of transporting 90 steel sheet piles from Package 2 of the Ring Road 3 project to Package 1 of the Nhat Tan Bridge project, Phuc and Huy discussed with Binh: if they sold 5 piles during transport, they would compensate Binh with the 5 excess piles at the destination. Binh agreed to this plan.

Around 9 PM on August 20, 2012, Binh and Dinh drove to a steel sheet pile yard to pick up 29 steel sheet piles. On the way back, the two stopped at a scrap metal shop, falsely claiming the piles were from a company liquidation sale, and sold 5 steel sheet piles for nearly 50 million VND. The operation was successful; Dinh received 10 million VND, Huy and Phuc each received 8 million VND, and Binh kept the rest. Seeing how easy the theft was, these four defendants persuaded Hung to commit two more thefts. In total, Binh and his four accomplices sold 43 steel sheet piles, profiting over 320 million VND.

At the trial, all five defendants sincerely confessed to their crimes. The judging panel determined that the defendants had damaged the company's property, with defendant Binh committing the crime multiple times and therefore receiving the highest sentence of 3 years imprisonment, while Dinh received 2 years and 6 months imprisonment. Hung, Phuc, and Huy received suspended sentences ranging from 12 to 15 months.

According to (vov.vn) - LT